Canada's Disregard for Indigenous rights

Canada’s federal government has a few months to go before having to submit their implementation mechanism for the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Yet, with such a short time approaching the deadline, a number of Human Rights violations have been reported in that same territory…

Indigenous communities have faced obstacles such as systemic racism and the humanitarian crises in terms of housing. Like the Chief of the Innu Council Pessamit said, it is essential that people see how, “ our rights have been taken away for too long, we have always been ignored, our territories taken away and our forests destroyed.”

Amnesty International has partnered with Atikamekw of Mnawan Nation, the Grassy Narrows First Nation, the Pessamit Innu Nation amongst others to submit a report documenting violations for the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. These stories vary from concerning to alarming; highlighting the blatant disregard of these communities and their environments from the government.

For the past 4 years, the British Columbia and Canadian government have criminalized, forcibly removed and intimidated members of the Wet’suwet’en Nation protesting against the Coastal GasLink pipeline on their territory. Just less than a year ago, 19 land defenders were charged with criminal contempt for denying the order to stay away from the construction sites, even if they were on their ancestral territory. Likewise, the Tsleil-Waututh Nation has been vocally opposing the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion program which was approved without consent with the community. But this expansion would be detrimental to the “heart of the Tsleil-Waututh territory,” according to one of the Nation’s Councilors. Although these people have denied their consent, Canada continues to push the Nations through their territories in spite of their ‘commitments’ and the UNDRIP.

In 2018, the Grassy Narrows First Nation published their own Land Declaration and declared their territory an Indigenous and protected area…all of which was aligned with Indigenous law. It bans mineral mining, industrial logging and asserts their right to self determination. According to this legal document, none of the following activities can take place without their consent. Nevertheless, the Canadian government goes into conflict with these communities as it continues to legitimize and permit land uses for economic growth. As a result, the Indigenous have experienced environmental and physiological challenges; such as the 1960s mercury poisoning of the land after Ontario’s government had permitted dumping ten metric tonnes of mercury in rivers. To this day, their people continue to suffer from governmental challenges and crises. The governments still grant new mining claims and propose plans against their will.

What Amnesty and their partners have reported, will result in new implementation mechanisms for the monetization and enforcement of the rights of the First Nations, Métis and Inuit people. As Grassy Narrows Chief Rudy Turtle said, “ the future of the planet depends on Indigenous voices being heard, they are the front lines of the struggle against human-caused climate change.”