Editor’s Commentary:
Once again, the government of my
country takes the low road. The government of Canada hasn’t had much to
brag about for about 50 years or so, but it has become abysmally worse during
the past decade.
Today, we are ruled by an automaton
bureaucrat (Prime Minister Stephen Harper) whose only real claim to fame is
that he has a pulse. And even that is only speculation. He certainly has no other discernible merit.
During his
tenure (at the start of which he bragged that Canadians wouldn’t recognize
their country when he was finished), the wheels almost immediately began to
fall off his wagon. In the eight dreadful years of this national nightmare,
we’ve been subjected to his enormous disregard for virtually everything Canada
has held sacred.
Stephen Harper apparently likes cats,
and that’s to his credit. But in almost every other way you could measure this
man, he is a complete waste of skin and space.
For example:
- Canada is unquestioning and uncritical in its support of
Israel – it doesn’t matter what awful things are done by Israel, Canada is
prepared to stand up and cheer. Harper behaves when he's with Netanyahu as though he was in the presence of a god
- Canada dismantled a statistical system of social
measurement that was the envy of the world and which taught its techniques
willingly – this had to go because keeping all those measurements were what
allowed us to properly target social service programs. If you can’t measure
it, there is no problem simply ignoring needs and instead ensuring that corporate friends get all the social benefits
- Canada has backed away from all its environmental
commitments
- Canada has muzzled its scientists who are no longer able
to speak on important matters without using scripts written by non-scientist
bureaucrats
- Canadian parliamentarians (those in the government party) have been completely silenced and must march in lock-step with the edicts from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). The PMO is largely staffed by hipster punks with no elected accountability and referred to by opposition politicians as 'the guys in short pants'
- Canada openly supported the overthrow of the duly elected
government of Ukraine, then cheerily threw its support behind the Nazi-like
government currently holding power in Kiev
- Canada openly supported the illegal overthrow of Libya's government
- Canada has signed (in recent months) several international trade agreements whose content still remain secret - because, after all, what business is it of Canadian citizens to know what's being traded away in our names?
- Canada condemned Russia because the Ukraine air force shot
down a Malaysian airliner (notice how this story has gone silent now that the
evidence is actually available – all the Western press heartily condemned
Russia when the details were still speculative and now, silence)
- Canada’s government has been rebuked numerous times by our
own Supreme Court for trying to introduce legislation that cannot pass
constitutional muster, for trying to circumvent the courts with illegal
judicial appointments, and for a host of other activities whose only real
purpose could have been to challenge the authority of the supreme law of the
land
- Canada has repeatedly looked for ways to expand production
and export of the filthiest fuel on the planet
- Canada has continued a long tradition of crapping on our
Indigenous Peoples (or First Nations, as we properly call them) – and as you
can see from the article below, this is apparently a tradition that we’re not
going to give up without a fight.
Canada has become an international
embarrassment. We at Axis of Logic fully support the plight of Indigenous
Peoples everywhere – and as a Canadian citizen, I personally express my disgust
with my government.
- prh, Editor
Axis of Logic
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Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation at Peoples' Climate March, ahead of the UN Climate Summit in New York. Photo by Zack Embree. |
First Nations groups are expressing
outrage at the Canadian government's stance toward Indigenous rights, expressed
at a United Nations forum on Indigenous rights.
"It is deeply concerning...that
Canada continues to embarrass itself on the world stage," Assembly of
First Nations interim chief Ghislain
Picard said. "These actions are not consistent with our
much-needed work toward reconciliation between First Nations and the
crown."
The Canadian government posted an
official statement earlier this week, criticizing the World Conference on
Indigenous Peoples Outcome document and voicing
disagreement about Indigenous people's rights around consent,
which it said could be misconstrued as a veto.
"Free, prior and informed
consent, as it is considered in paragraphs 3 and 20 of the WCIP Outcome Document,
could be interpreted as providing a veto to Aboriginal groups and in that
regard, cannot be reconciled with Canadian law, as it exists," the
government statement said.
"Agreeing to paragraph 3 of the
Outcome Document would commit Canada to work to integrate FPIC (free, prior and
informed consent) in its processes with respect to implementing legislative or
administrative measures affecting Aboriginal peoples. This would run
counter to Canada’s constitution, and if implemented, would risk fettering Parliamentary
supremacy."
The government argued that
"Canada’s position on this issue is well known" and said "we
regret that our concerns were not taken into account." It emphasized that
Canada "cannot associate itself" with elements in the document relating
to First Nations' consent.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who
had earlier snubbed the UN Climate Summit while in New York, also skipped the
two-day long UN Indigenous peoples meeting. Environment
minister Leona Aglukkaq, however, was in attendance.
In response to Canada's objections
over the non-binding document on Indigenous rights, high-profile First Nations
groups issued a strongly-worded joint statement condemning the federal
government's stance:
Indigenous
peoples' organizations and human rights groups are outraged that the federal
government used a high level United Nations forum on Indigenous rights as an
opportunity to continue its unprincipled attack on the UN Declaration on
the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
On Monday, the
World Conference on Indigenous Peoples -- a high level plenary of the UN
General Assembly in New York -- adopted a consensus statement reaffirming
support for the UN Declaration.
Canada was the
only member state to raise objections.
Chief Perry
Bellegarde, Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations, said, "The World
Conference was an opportunity for all states to reaffirm their commitment to
working constructively with Indigenous peoples to uphold fundamental human
rights standards. Alone among all the UN members, Canada instead chose to use
this forum to make another unprincipled attack on those very standards."
The Outcome Document,
the product of many months of negotiations between states and Indigenous
representatives prior to the World Conference, calls on member states to take
"appropriate measures at the national level, including legislative, policy
and administrative measures, to achieve the ends of the United Nations
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples."
The Outcome
Document also affirms provisions in the UN Declaration that decisions
potentially affecting the rights of Indigenous peoples should be undertaken
only with their free, prior and informed consent.
After the Outcome
Document was adopted, Canada filed a two-page statement of objections, saying
that it could not commit to uphold provisions in the UN
Declaration that deal with free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) if
these provisions were "interpreted as a veto."
The notion that the Declaration could be interpreted
as conferring an absolute and unilateral veto power has been repeatedly raised
by Canada as a justification for its continued opposition to
the Declaration. This claim, however, has no basis either in the UN
Declaration or in the wider body of international law.
Like standards of accommodation and
consent set out by the Supreme Court of Canada, FPIC in international law is
applied in proportion to the potential for harm to the rights of Indigenous
peoples and to the strength of these rights. The word "veto" does not
appear in the UN Declaration.
"The right of free, prior and
informed consent is crucial to us, as self-determining peoples," said
Matthew Coon Come, Grand Chief of the Grand Council of the Crees.
"The government has never
explained what it means by 'veto.' Is a 'veto' absolute? If so, then a 'veto'
isn't the same thing as 'consent.'"
In international law, human rights
are generally relative and not absolute. The right to free, prior and informed
consent in the UN Declaration is not absolute.
Grand Chief Ed John, First Nations
Summit, said, "In the recent decision recognizing Tsilhqot'in title, the
Supreme Court itself rejected Canada's incomprehensible position."
In its unanimous decision recognizing
Tsilhqot'in ownership of a large part of their traditional lands, the Supreme
Court stated in June, "Governments and individuals proposing to use or
exploit land, whether before or after a declaration of Aboriginal title, can
avoid a charge of infringement or failure to adequately consult by obtaining
the consent of the interested Aboriginal group."
National Chief Ghislain Picard,
Assembly of First Nations, said, "Canada keeps insisting that Indigenous
peoples don't have a say in development on their lands. This position is not
consistent with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,
decisions by its own courts, or the goal of reconciliation."
Regional Chief Stan Beardy, Chiefs of
Ontario, said, "Either through the social license to operate, which refers
to the level of acceptance or approval that a local community provides to
development, or a Notice of Assertions as provided by First Nations in Ontario
this past summer, First Nations are already exercising a direct say about
development on their lands -- whether Canada objects internationally or
not."
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip,
President of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, said, "The Outcome Document
speaks directly to the pressing human rights concerns of Indigenous Peoples in
Canada such as Indigenous Peoples' participation in consent- based decisions
regarding resource development, the need to close the gap in access to
government services, and the dire need to address violence against Indigenous
women. In light of the game-changing Supreme Court of Canada Tsilhqot'in
Nation decision, Canada should have embraced the Outcome Document
rather than be the only State in the United Nations to invent self-serving
reasons to object."
Canada's objection to the World
Conference Outcome Document contradicts Canada's 2010 statement of endorsement
of the UN Declaration in which the government said, "We are
now confident that Canada can interpret the principles expressed in the Declaration in
a manner that is consistent with our Constitution and legal framework."
In contrast, Canada told the UN that
FPIC provisions in the Declaration "run counter to
Canada's constitution" and would "negate" Supreme Court mandated
policies on consultation and accommodation.
"It strains credibility to think
Canadian officials could actually believe the ridiculous claims they presented
to the United Nations," said Michelle Audette, President of the Native
Women's Association of Canada. "This kind of bad faith and dishonesty will
only further tarnish Canada's reputation and erode Canada's influence on the
world stage."
On 1 May 2008, over 100 scholars and
experts in Canadian constitutional and international law signed an Open Letter
stating that the Declaration was "consistent with the Canadian
Constitution and Charter ... Government claims to the contrary do a grave
disservice to the cause of human rights and to the promotion of harmonious and
cooperative relations."
The Outcome Document adopted by the
UN General Assembly also calls for "equal access to high-quality education
that recognizes the diversity of the culture of indigenous peoples, as well as
health, housing, water, sanitation and other economic and social programmes to
improve their well-being." Specific measures are urged for Indigenous
people with disabilities and to address HIV/AIDS.
In addition, the Outcome Document
calls for "measures which will ensure the full and effective participation
of indigenous women in decision making processes at all levels and in all
areas," as well as intensified efforts to stop violence against Indigenous
women.
Ad hoc coalition on the UN
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Statement endorsed by:
- Amnesty International Canada
- Assembly of First Nations
- Canadian Friends Service Committee
- Chiefs of Ontario
- Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations First Nations
Summit
- Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee)
- Indigenous World Association
- KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives
- Native Women's Association of Canada
- Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs
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