[mobglob-discuss] Canada votes against U.N. declaration on Indigenous peoples' rights

[Graeme Bacque]

http://tinyurl.com/ld6fz

Canada votes against UN rights declaration
Jun. 29, 2006. 07:23 PM

Canadian Press

GENEVA — Over the objection of Canada and Russia, the new UN Human 
Rights Council adopted a declaration Thursday to protect the rights of 
indigenous peoples around the world, including their claims on land and 
resources.

By 30-2 vote, the council approved the declaration that said indigenous 
people should be free from discrimination and that they have a right "to 
consider themselves different and to be respected as such."

Only Canada and Russia voted against it. A dozen countries abstained and 
three were absent.

When the tally appeared on the electronic screen, the packed conference 
room erupted into applause. People wept and hugged each other and smiled 
broadly. Louise Arbour, the UN high commissioner for human rights and 
former Supreme Court of Canada justice, joined in the standing ovation.

"I'm very excited," said Willie Littlechild, a Aboriginal lawyer and 
Treaty Six international chief from Alberta.

"I'm very, very delighted and encouraged by the signal the new Human 
Rights Council has given the world that they are serious about 
addressing indigenous issues as we go forward by adopting a declaration."

Indigenous groups had hoped the declaration would be approved by 
consensus but Canada asked for a vote.

Earlier in the week, a Canadian motion to have the council authorize 
further consultations on the draft declaration was defeated. A rollcall 
vote of the 47-member council took place.

"When you're doing the right thing, you don't really worry about whether 
you're isolated or not," said Paul Meyer, head of the Canadian 
government delegation to the council.

"I think there were a number of countries that indicated they shared 
some of our concerns about the process and the substance and some of the 
deficiencies of both aspects that led us to take the vote we did."

The United States, Australia and New Zealand also opposed the 
declaration, but they are not members of the council and thus cannot vote.

The Canadian government has problems with current provisions on land, 
territories and resources which were unclear and open to interpretation, 
Meyer said. Other problematic areas are provisions on land claims, the 
concept of "free, prior and informed consent" and issues relating to 
self-government provisions.

Littlechild said he was "very personally disappointed that Canada chose 
to follow that path because ... they were there all the way through 
since 1982 helping us draft together a document, a balanced document."

"I felt very betrayed," Littlechild said.

Kenneth Deer, who represents Mohawks at Kahnawake and the United Nations 
Council of Chiefs, also said he felt betrayed. "Canada had a lot to do 
with the declaration getting this far ... It's ironic that for 11 years 
they carried the resolution and at the end they voted against the 
declaration and against their own work."

But Meyer doesn't see it that way.

"Our position evolved," he said. "But ... we always had an objective 
which was to get the best sort of declaration possible and we were 
willing to go the extra mile on this. We specifically came here with a 
plea for additional time."

Deer said he the declaration should be stronger, but more negotiations 
would not help because governments that "wanted to re-open it would want 
to weaken it and not strengthen it."

He warned of "strained" relations between the Canadian government and 
indigenous peoples, but Meyer said he doesn't think relations will be 
adversely affected.

The declaration goes to the UN General Assembly for final adoption in 
the fall.

The document is not legally binding. But governments and indigenous 
groups point out that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was also 
not a binding document, but over time it became customary law.