The Government of Canada has committed to co-developing legislation with Inuit, First Nations, and Métis to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Canada.
Inuit fully support this.
However, we are deeply concerned about the federal government’s approach to achieving this goal.
Since 2017, ITK has insisted that legislation implementing the UN Declaration must include the creation of an independent Indigenous Human Rights Commission. It would be responsible for monitoring federal compliance with the rights affirmed by the UN Declaration, and overseeing the promotion of those rights nationally.
Similar to the Canadian Human Rights Commission, it would be empowered to conduct investigations of federal departments and institutions, and send discrimination-related complaints to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal for further examination.