Canada’s Vote Against UN Declaration Discussed
Friday, September 11, 2009 at 14:14
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was the topic at last night’s Amnesty International meeting in Regina.
The meeting was to discuss Canada’s ‘no’ vote on the declaration, which affirms Indigenous rights to self-determination, land rights and cultural identity.
Alex Neve, Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada, says government leaders have never explained why Canada was one of the countries to vote ‘no’ on the declaration, even though the declaration “sits quite nicely alongside the provisions in the Constitution that deal with Indigenous peoples.”
Canada is one of four countries that has not acknowledged the declaration.
A hundred and forty-three countries supported the declaration two years ago.