Posts Tagged ‘UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People’

Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, January 29, 2013 - 0 Comments

Romeo Saganash’s bill on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People is here. For all intents and purposes, it amounts to two clauses, but the implications of those clauses open a large debate.

The Government of Canada must take all measures necessary to ensure that the laws of Canada are consistent with the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples that was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations as General Assembly Resolution 61/295 on September 13, 2007 and that is set out in the schedule to this Act.

At the end of the fiscal year beginning on April 1, 2013, and at the end of each of the next four fiscal years, the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development must prepare a report reviewing the progress made by the Government of Canada in ensuring that the laws of Canada are consistent with the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples during that fiscal year, and must cause the report to be laid before each House of Parliament within 60 days after the end of that fiscal year or, if that House is not then sitting, on any of the first 15 days next thereafter that the House is sitting.

Mr. Saganash was involved in the drafting of the UN Declaration.

  • Q&A: Romeo Saganash (Part Two)

    By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, January 16, 2013 at 4:28 PM - 0 Comments

    The second part of my conversation with Romeo Saganash. In this segment we talk about #IdleNoMore, Theresa Spence, Shawn Atleo, the blockades and the chance for progress. The first part of our conversation is here.

    Obviously you’ve been preoccupied with other things, but have you had a chance to watch Idle No More? Have you talked to people? What’s your sense of what’s happened these last few weeks?

    Well, anyone who thought that this would never happen must have been somewhere else, in a sense, because this was bound to happen. I know a lot of people tend to say that Idle No More is just an aboriginal thing, which is really not the case because a lot of things that we talk about should be of direct concern to all Canadians. Whether it’s the environment, navigable waters, you name it. The dismantling, and it’s not just me as an NDPer that is speaking, but the dismantling of the environment, the dismantling of the economy and natural resources in this country, the dismantling of human rights in this country, the government of the day is presently dismantling the very foundation of what Canada is. And obviously I have a problem with that.

    So that is what I’m seeing. I haven’t been completely isolated, I’ve been following this and the people that talk to me, whether in my riding or Montreal or elsewhere here, all point to the same things. The hunting association in Val D’Or has the same preoccupations as the aboriginal peoples that are protesting in the streets. And in many regions, a lot of non-aboriginal people have joined those marches. We need to continue to fight something that is wrong here. And it’s not just about aboriginal rights or treaty rights, it’s about a lot of other things as well. Continue…

From Macleans