Current Problems

United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (43-44)

Conservative Senators kill UNDRIP

April 9, 2021

The Coalition for the Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples – Conservative Senators prevented Bill C-262 being sent to Committee for review. Passage of Bill C-262 would establish a legislative framework for future governments to work collaboratively with Indigenous peoples to interpret and apply the global human rights standards set out in the 2007 UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Last year, an overwhelming majority of Members of Parliament voted (206 to 79) to adopt Bill C-262. No Conservatives supported the bill. The Senate was scheduled to conclude second reading of the Bill yesterday, but a vote to move it to Committee for debate was prevented by two procedural motions by Conservative senators and a question of privilege which interrupted Senate business and left no time to address Bill C-262.

After more than two decades of deliberation in the United Nations, and more than a decade of political debate in Canada, the opportunity to finally move ahead with concrete, meaningful implementation of the UN Declaration must not be squandered by unprincipled stalling tactics,” said Grand Chief Wilton Littlechild, former Commissioner with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Our organizations are calling on Conservative leader Andrew Scheer to ensure that Conservative Senators abandon these unprincipled stalling tactics so that consideration of Bill C-262 can proceed.
https://www.cngov.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/news-release-conservative-senators-attempt-to-block-reconciliation-legislation-april-10-2019.pdf