OTTAWA – The Green Party of Canada fully supports the recommendations of a new UN report released today on the state of Canada’s Aboriginal communities.
Authored by United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, James Anaya, the report urges the federal government to honour its constitutionally mandated duty to consult First Nations on energy projects, including the proposed Site C hydroelectric dam on the Peace River, the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline, and the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.
The report also called for a comprehensive national inquiry into the ongoing crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada.
“Mr. Anaya is undertaking critical work and analysis on the state of Indigenous peoples in Canada and we all need to pay attention to the UN’s findings,” said Lorraine Rekmans, Green Party Aboriginal Affairs Critic.
“Canada’s claim to any moral authority internationally is going to be measured against its poor performance at home. This report is telling and instructive. We have everything we need to make the necessary changes to improve the lives of Indigenous peoples in Canada, the only thing we seem to be short of in this country is honesty and political will.”
“In their single-minded pursuit of resource development, this government has systematically ignored the most fundamental rights of Aboriginal peoples for far too long,” said Elizabeth May, Leader of the Green Party of Canada and Member of Parliament for Saanich–Gulf Islands. “There can be no reconciliation until this government commits to genuinely respectful nation-to-nation dialogue with Canada’s Indigenous peoples.”
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Contact:
Nicholas Gall
Communications Coordinator
Green Party of Canada
(613) 614 4916
nicholas.gall@greenparty.ca