(Ottawa) The current federal Liberal government is trying to distance itself from the one that allegedly conspired with Australia to weaken the United Nations text on indigenous peoples in the early 2000s.
Newly released Australian cabinet documents from 2003 show the two countries worked together to propose a softer version of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The idea for a more state-friendly version arose from the Liberal government of Jean Chrétien, the documents show, and was supported by Australia at the time.
Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu says every Liberal government is different, but every act of colonization and attack on Indigenous rights leaves a “stain” on the country.
The documents, first disclosed by the newspaper The Guardianshow that both governments worked in secret to weaken the declaration, while recognizing that their efforts would face strong indigenous opposition.
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was amended before being adopted by the UN in 2007, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government passed legislation in 2021 to bring it into force.