UN rapporteur visiting Canada at crucial time
BY DOUG CUTHAND, THE STARPHOENIXOCTOBER 11, 2013 5:00 AM http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/rapporteur+visiting+Canada+crucial+time/9025690/story.html James Anaya, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, is conducting a fact finding tour across Canada. The brief visit will last just one week, and he will be in Saskatchewan on Sunday. To say that the federal government is not pleased with the visit would be an understatement. Anaya made a request in March 2012 to the federal government to come to Canada in his official capacity and it took until February for the government to reply. The visit was arranged reluctantly. The UN website says Anaya's mandate is to "promote the rights of indigenous peoples and address specific situations in which their rights are being violated." A visit last year from the UN's Right to Food envoy Olivier De Schutter was met with outright hostility from Ottawa. De Schutter pointed out that Canada had 800,000 households where social assistance was unable to provide proper nutrition. He was especially blunt about First Nations' communities, and the need to reform food subsidies in the North. Rather than study De Schutter's report and review its recommendations, the reaction was swift and negative. Then Health minister Leona Aglukkaq called his comments "ill informed and patronizing," and Immigration Minister Jason Kenny called them "completely ridiculous." Canada's federal government does not take criticism well. It would be a shame if Anaya's report has the same effect. Anaya has an impressive resume and will be tough to ignore. He has an undergraduate degree from the University of New Mexico and a law degree from Harvard. He is currently teaching human rights law at the University of Arizona. He has also been a visiting professor at the University of Toronto and has made numerous visits to Canada. The Canadian government has become increasingly isolated internationally. Prime Minister Stephen Harper again was a no-show at the opening of the UN General Assembly. His boycott of the upcoming Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Sri Lanka has not been taken up by any other nation, and appears to be a naked attempt to secure the large Tamil diaspora vote around Toronto in the next election. It's against this background of an increasingly erratic federal government that Anaya is heading out on a cross-country tour to assess the state of relations with Canada's first peoples. There are several issues that have been ignored and are reaching the boiling point. The calls for a national inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women has been supported by the Assembly of First Nations and premiers, but has fallen on deaf ears so far nationally. There was a major rally on Parliament Hill last week and demonstrations were held across Canada. This is an issue that will not go away. In fact, it's growing stronger. Anaya no doubt will hear about this national tragedy and it will be a part of his report. Meanwhile, the federal and British Columbia governments seem to be planning to move ahead with the Gateway pipeline and other projects in the province. So far the treaty making process in B.C. has been an abject failure, and legally the First Nations still hold title to the land. If construction of pipelines is allowed to proceed, it will be a serious breach of the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Supreme Court, too, has ruled that First Nations hold title to the land in cases where no treaty agreements exist. But even where treaties exist, the principle of sharing the land has not been put in practice. The issue of resource revenue sharing is becoming increasingly relevant in view of development in the North, particularly the "Ring of Fire" in Northern Ontario. The high court has ruled that governments have a duty to consult and accommodate when making changes that will adversely affect First Nations. This ruling has not been followed in good faith, and decisions such as the one to proceed with pipelines and resource development is a clear breach. B.C. treaty commissioner Sophie Pierre recently stated that both the federal and provincial governments have not been negotiating in good faith and, in fact, have erected bureaucratic barriers to negotiating lasting settlements. Anaya's visit comes at a crucial time for government-First Nations relations. There has been a steady growth in dissatisfaction with Ottawa's failure to move on First Nations and aboriginal issues. Demonstrations and civil disobedience have become more prevalent. The rapporteur's report is due to be presented in September 2014, a year in advance of the next federal election. No doubt the report will be controversial, but what impact it will have remains to be seen. Watch for the government's attempts to shoot the messenger rather than come to grips with some serious issues.
