Canada is now one of just three countries world-wide that oppose the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
CBC reports that, “The Australian government has endorsed a United Nations declaration that recognizes the rights of indigenous people to their own culture, institutions and spiritual traditions.”
This endorsement “reverses a position taken by Australia’s previous conservative government. Australia was one of four countries to reject the declaration adopted by the UN General Assembly in September 2007, the others being Canada, New Zealand and the United States.”
On September 25, 2007, we issued a media release which states, “The Council of Canadians denounces the Harper government for voting against the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples on September 13, 2007 along with the U.S., Australia and New Zealand. 143 countries voted in favour of the Declaration.”
The media release states, “The Council of Canadians is demanding that the Canadian government show leadership on indigenous rights by supporting the Declaration and taking necessary measures to ensure justice for Aboriginal communities in Canada.”
The CBC report is at http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/04/03/australia-indigenous.html
Our media release is at http://canadians.org/media/other/2007/25-Sept-07.html
