Making Indigenous Peoples’ Rights in Canada Visible

PDF (English)
Pubblicato: Dec 29, 2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12681/hapscpbs.29487
Anastasia-Maria Ntalakosta
Department of International and European Studies, University of Piraeus, Greece
Abstract

Although the United Nations have established mechanisms to exercise political authority and influence states’ policies and the global civil society puts pressure on their actions, indigenous peoples continue to face discrimination and violations of their rights. Canada constitutes a great example of a democratic country that is supposed to respect and protect human rights but violates the aboriginal rights extensively. The massive energy projects, Coastal GasLink pipeline, Trans Mountain pipeline and Site C dam, being developed in North and West Canada, do not respect the traditional lands and resources of the indigenous populations that live in the region and have been strongly condemned by the First Nations, the actors of the global civil society and the UN. Nonetheless, the Canadian government continues to fully support their construction. This paper aims to analyse the violations conducted against indigenous populations’ lands by the Canadian government and the reaction of the UN and global civil society, using a series of qualitative and quantitative data based on papers, analyses and reports of Institutes, Study Centers and Organizations.

Article Details
  • Sezione
  • Articles
Creative Commons License

TQuesto lavoro è fornito con la licenza Creative Commons Attribuzione 4.0 Internazionale.

Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
Downloads
I dati di download non sono ancora disponibili.
Biografia autore
Anastasia-Maria Ntalakosta, Department of International and European Studies, University of Piraeus, Greece
Department of International and European Studies, University of Piraeus, Greece
Riferimenti bibliografici
Amnesty International (2016). Canada: The point of no return: The human rights of indigenous peoples in Canada threatened by the Site C dam. Available at: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/amr20/4281/2016/en/ (Accessed: 18/08/2021).
Amnesty International (2021). Canada: Submission to the UN Human Rights Committee, List of Issues Prior to Reporting. Available at: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/amr20/4149/2021/en/ (Accessed: 18/08/2021).
B.C. Ministry of Environment (2014). ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT CERTIFICATE # E14-03. Available at: https://projects.eao.gov.bc.ca/api/public/document/58868fd3e036fb010576876e/download/Environmental%20Assessment%20Certificate%20%23E14-03%20for%20the%20CGL%20Project%20dated%20October%2023%2C%202014..pdf (Accessed: 18/08/2021).
BBC (2020). Court victory for disputed Trans Mountain pipeline project. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51317384 (Accessed: 18/08/2021).
CBC (2018). First Nations 'deeply frustrated' after B.C. Supreme Court dismisses Site C injunction. Available at: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/site-c-west-moberly-first-nation-injunction-1.4877673 (Accessed: 18/08/2021).
Coastal GasLink (2021). Statement from Coastal GasLink President Tracy Robinson. Available at: https://www.coastalgaslink.com/whats-new/news-stories/2021/2021-07-29-statement-from-coastal-gaslink-president-tracy-robinson/ (Accessed: 18/08/2021).
Coastal GasLink Pipeline LTD. v. Huson F., Naziel W., Doe J., Doe J. et al (2018). Available at: http://forestaction.wdfiles.com/local--files/caravan/CGL%20vs%20Unistoten%20injunction%20application.pdf (Accessed: 18/08/2021).
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (2019). PREVENTION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION, INCLUDING EARLY WARNING AND URGENT ACTION PROCEDURE. Available at: https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CERD/Shared%20Documents/CAN/INT_CERD_EWU_CAN_9026_E.pdf (Accessed: 18/08/2021).
Department of Justice Canada (2021). Legislation to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples becomes law. Available at: https://www.canada.ca/en/department-justice/news/2021/06/legislation-to-implement-the-united-nations-declaration-on-the-rights-of-indigenous-peoples-becomes-law.html (Accessed: 18/08/2021).
Dhillon, J. & Parish, W. (2019). Exclusive: Canada police prepared to shoot indigenous activists, documents show, The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/20/canada-indigenous-land-defenders-police-documents (Accessed: 18/08/2021).
Dhillon-Kane, L. (2020). Work must stop on Trans Mountain, Site C, LNG pipeline until First Nations approval, UN committee says, CBC. Available at: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/un-racism-committee-trans-mountain-site-c-coastal-gaslink-pipeline-1.5417343 (Accessed: 18/08/2021).
Environment and Climate Change Canada (2014). Decision Statement Issued under Section 54 of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012. Available at: https://www.ceaa-acee.gc.ca/050/documents/p63919/100567E.pdf (Accessed: 18/08/2021).
Fontaine, T. (2016). Canada officially adopts UN declaration on rights of Indigenous Peoples, CBC. Available at: https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/canada-adopting-implementing-un-rights-declaration-1.3575272 (Accessed: 18/08/2021).
Freedom House (2021). Freedom in the World 2021: Canada. Available at: https://freedomhouse.org/country/canada/freedom-world/2021 (Accessed: 18/08/2021).
Hunsberger, C., & Larsen, R. K. (2021). The spatial politics of energy conflicts: How competing constructions of scale shape pipeline and shale gas struggles in Canada. In: Energy Research & Social Science, 77, 102100. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214629621001936 (Accessed: 18/08/2021).
International Labour Organisation (1989). Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169). Available at: https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/documents/atrocity-crimes/Doc.16_Indigenous%20and%20Tribal%20Peoples%20Convention.pdf (Accessed: 18/08/2021).
International Labour Organisation (n.d.). Ratifications of C169 -Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169). Available at: http://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:11300:0::NO::P11300_INSTRUMENT_ID:312314 (Accessed: 18/08/2021).
Joint Review Panel (2014). Report of the JOINT Review Panel SITE C CLEAN ENERGY PROJECT BC Hydro. Available at: https://www.ceaa-acee.gc.ca/050/documents/p63919/99173E.pdf (Accessed: 18/08/2021).
Jonasson, M. E., Spiegel, S. J., Thomas, S., Yassi, A., Wittman, H., Takaro, T et al. (2019). Oil pipelines and food sovereignty: Threat to health equity forindigenous communities. Journal of public health policy, 40(4), 504-517.
Kestler-D'Amours, J. (2020). Understanding the Wet’suwet’en struggle in Canada, Al Jazeera. Available at: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/3/1/understanding-the-wetsuweten-struggle-in-canada (Accessed: 18/08/2021).
Kraushaar-Friesen, N. & Busch, H. (2020). Of pipe dreams and fossil fools: Advancing Canadian fossil fuel hegemony through the Trans Mountain pipeline. Energy Research & Social Science, 69, 101695.
Kroemer, A. (2019). Canada. In: Minority and Indigenous Trends 2019, Minorities Rights Group International. Available at: https://minorityrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/2019_MR_Report_170x240_V7_WEB.pdf (Accessed: 18/08/2021).
Land Claims Agreements Coalition (n.d.). What is a modern treaty? Available at: https://landclaimscoalition.ca/modern-treaty/ (Accessed: 18/08/2021).
Lindeman, T. (2019). Landmark agreement gives indigenous 'forgotten people' power to self-govern, The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/04/canada-metis-nations-indigenous-agreement (Accessed: 18/08/2021).
Ministry of Justice (2021). THE CONSTITUTION ACTS 1867 to 1982. Available at: https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/PDF/CONST_TRD.pdf (Accessed: 18/08/2021).
Nathan Braun to Joel Forrest (2019). Coastal GasLink Pipeline Project. In: Environmental Assessment Office. Available at: https://projects.eao.gov.bc.ca/api/document/5da9f6fe5cbf570021016fa2/fetch/350810_Forrest_FINAL.pdf (Accessed: 18/08/2021).
Neve, Α. & Langlois, F.-I. (2020). Open letter urges Canadian, B.C., and Alberta governments to heed UN racism committee’s call to respect indigenous rights, Amnesty International. Available at: https://amnesty.ca/news/open-letter-urges-canadian-bc-and-alberta-governments-heed-un-racism-committees-call-respect/ (Accessed: 18/08/2021).
Office of the Wet’suwet’en (2014). Wet’suwet’en Title and Rights and Coastal GasLink. Available at: http://www.wetsuweten.com/files/Wetsuweten_Title_and_Rights_report_to_EAO_for_Coastal_GasLink_Application.pdf (Accessed: 18/08/2021).
Oud, N. (2019). First Nations renew legal fight against Site C dam after talks end with B.C. government, CBC. Available at: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/first-nations-renew-legal-fight-against-site-c-dam-after-talks-end-with-b-c-government-1.5261815 (Accessed: 18/08/2021).
Prophet River First Nation & West Moberly First Nations v. Attorney General of Canada et al, FCA 15 (2017). Available at: https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/3405535/A-435-15-20170123-R-E-O-OTT-20170123114813-TRU.pdf (Accessed: 18/08/2021).
Tsleil-Waututh Nation et al v. Attorney General of Canada et al, FCA 153 (2018). Available at: https://decisions.fca-caf.gc.ca/fca-caf/decisions/en/343511/1/document.do (Accessed: 18/08/2021).
UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (2021). STATE OF THE WORLD’S INDIGENOUS PEOPLES: Rights to Lands, Territories and Resources, 5th Volume. Available at: https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2021/03/State-of-Worlds-Indigenous-Peoples-Vol-V-Final.pdf (Accessed: 18/08/2021).
UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (n.d.). United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Available at: https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/declaration-on-the-rights-of-indigenous-peoples.html (Accessed: 18/08/2021).
UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Indigenous Peoples (n.d.). Available at: https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/about-us.html (Accessed: 18/08/2021).
UN Economic and Social Council (1962). Report of the Commission on Human Rights (E/3616/Rev. l), at para. 105, 18th session.
UN Human Rights Council (2014). Report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, James Anaya, Addendum: The situation of indigenous peoples in Canada, A/HRC/27/52/Add. Available at: https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/IPeoples/SR/A.HRC.27.52.Add.2-MissionCanada_AUV.pdf (Accessed: 18/08/2021).
UN Human Rights Council (2020). Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the rights of indigenous peoples, A/HRC/45/22. Available at: https://undocs.org/A/HRC/45/22 (Accessed: 18/08/2021).
United Nations (2008). United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Available at: https://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/DRIPS_en.pdf (Accessed: 18/08/2021).
Yanduan Li to Leslie Norton (2020). Available at: https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CERD/Shared%20Documents/CAN/INT_CERD_ALE_CAN_9296_E.pdf (Accessed: 18/08/2021).