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Timestamp: 2019-12-15 22:19:35
Document Index: 354863466

Matched Legal Cases: ['art. 2', 'art. 4', 'art. 6', 'art. 5', 'art. 5', 'art. 5']

CERD/C/CAN/CO/21-23
Concluding observations on the combined twenty-first to twenty-third periodic reports of Canada *
1.The Committee considered the combined twenty-first to twenty-third periodic reports of Canada (CERD/C/CAN/21-23), submitted in one document, at its 2566th and 2567th meetings (see CERD/C/SR.2566 and 2567), held on 14 and 15 August 2017. At its 2580th, 2581st and 2582nd meetings, held on 23 and 24 August, it adopted the present concluding observations.
2.The Committee welcomes the submission of the combined twenty-first to twenty-third periodic reports of the State party, which included responses to the concerns raised by the Committee in its previous concluding observations. The Committee welcomes the open and constructive dialogue with the State party’s delegation.
(a)The establishment in 2016 of the Anti-Racism Directorate in Ontario to address systemic racism and to promote fair practices and policies across Ontario Province;
(b)The House of Commons’ condemnation of Islamophobia and all forms of systemic racism and religious discrimination, in March 2017;
(c)The work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, and its final report, released in 2015, entitled Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future, which includes 94 calls to action to address historical and ongoing discrimination against indigenous peoples;
(d)The resettlement of 46,000 Syrian refugees in 2016, and the commitment to resettle 25,000 refugees in 2017;
(e)Full restoration of the Interim Federal Health Program to provide limited temporary health-care coverage to eligible groups, such as refugees, in April 2016.
4.The Committee welcomes the vibrant participation of representatives of the First Nations, Inuit and Métis and civil society organizations in the review of Canada. The Committee also greatly appreciates the contributions of the Canadian Human Rights Commission.
5.The Committee regrets again that the absence of recent reliable and comprehensive statistical data on the ethnic composition of the population, including disaggregated economic and social indicators for ethnic groups, African-Canadians, indigenous peoples, and non-citizens, and the lack of detailed data and information on the representation of minority groups in public and political life in the State party, prevent it from evaluating the enjoyment of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights in the State party by these groups. The Committee reiterates its concern about the continued use of the term “visible minority” in the State party to describe minority groups, as it renders invisible the differences in the lived experiences of diverse communities.
(d) Revise its use of the term “ visible minority ” in the Employment Equity Act, of 1995, and in other legislation, as previously recommended (see CERD/C/CAN/CO/19-20, para. 8).
7.The Committee regrets the lack of comprehensive information on the equal implementation of the Convention in all 10 provinces and 3 territories of the State party (art. 2).
9.While welcoming Ontario’s first provincial anti-racism strategy, of March 2017, the Committee regrets the absence of a new national action plan against racism, applicable to the federal, provincial and territorial levels, since the previous plan lapsed in 2010.
10. The Committee recommends that the State party develop and launch a new national action plan against racism, in compliance with its obligations undertaken at the World Conference Against Racism, through a meaningful consultation process with civil society organizations, including ethnic minorities and indigenous peoples, that includes implementing legislation, dedicated resources, targets, and adequate monitoring and reporting mechanisms, using good practices mentioned in Ontario ’ s anti-racism strategy of 2017. The Committee requests that the State party provide information in its next periodic report on the implementation and impact of Ontario ’ s anti-racism strategy, and other such strategies in the State party.
11.The Committee is concerned that adequate anti-racism framework legislation meeting all of the requirements of article 4 is not yet in place in all provinces and territories in the State party (art. 4).
13.The Committee is concerned that racist hate crimes continue to be underreported, and that the lack of updated, systematic and coordinated tracking of racist hate crime data in all provinces and territories of the State party may mean that actual numbers of violations may be much higher. The Committee is concerned about the 61 per cent increase in racist hate crimes reported against Muslims. The Committee is also concerned that although the data provided by the State party on the implementation of anti-discrimination provisions does indicate the number or extent of incidents and complaints submitted, it does not indicate the number of ex officio prosecutions, investigations launched and convictions.
15.The Committee is concerned at reports that racial profiling by the police, security agencies and border agents continues on a daily basis in the State party, with a harmful impact on indigenous peoples, as well as on ethnic minority Muslims, African-Canadians, and other ethnic minority groups. The Committee is also concerned at the reported disproportionately high rate of incarceration of indigenous peoples and persons belonging to minority groups, in particular African-Canadians, due to reasons such as socioeconomic disparity, high incarceration rates of members of minorities who have mental or intellectual impairments, lack of appropriate community services, overpolicing of certain populations, drug policies and racially biased sentencing. The Committee is further concerned at reports that both African-Canadian and indigenous offenders are overrepresented in “segregation” (solitary confinement), that 50 per cent of indigenous inmate women have reportedly been placed in segregation and that indigenous inmates have the longest average stay in segregation.
(c) Ensure that the staff in law enforcement and security agencies, and border agents, are demographically diverse and include indigenous peoples, African-Canadians and other ethnic minorities. Ensure that all staff are trained in the prevention of racial discrimination, and on policies to prevent racial profiling. Ensure that lawyers and judges are trained on provisions relating to sentencing and alternatives to incarceration for indigenous peoples, such as in the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (sects. 29, 77, 80, 81 and 84) and that these provisions are consistently applied. Provide updated, detailed information and statistics in its next periodic report on such training programmes and on the impact of such trainings;
(e) Implement key health and harm reduction measures across all prisons;
(f) Systematically collect data and report publicly on the demographic composition of the prison population, including on indigenous peoples, African-Canadians and other ethnic minorities, and on the sentencing of minority offenders;
17.While welcoming the commitment made to implement all of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 calls to action, the Committee is concerned at the lack of an action plan and of full implementation. The Committee is also concerned that the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Action Plan has not yet been adopted, while noting the ministerial working group that was established in 2017 to bring laws into compliance with obligations towards indigenous peoples.
(a) Develop a concrete action plan to implement the Truth and Reconciliation Commission ’ s 94 calls to action, in consultation with indigenous peoples;
(b) Implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and adopt a legislative framework to implement the Convention — including a national action plan, reform of national laws, policies and regulations to bring them into compliance with the Declaration, and annual public reporting;
(d) Develop and implement training programmes, in consultation with indigenous peoples, for State officials and employees, on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission ’ s calls to action and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, to ensure their effective impact;
19.Taking note of the recent release of a set of 10 principles respecting the Government of Canada’s relationship with indigenous peoples, in 2017, the Committee is deeply concerned that:
(a)Violations of the land rights of indigenous peoples continue in the State party; in particular, environmentally destructive decisions for resource development which affect their lives and territories continue to be undertaken without the free, prior and informed consent of the indigenous peoples, resulting in breaches of treaty obligations and international human rights law.
(b)Costly, time-consuming and ineffective litigation is often the only remedy, in place of seeking free, prior and informed consent — resulting in the State party continuing to issue permits which allow for damage to lands.
(c)According to information received, permits have been issued and construction has commenced at the Site C dam, despite the vigorous opposition of indigenous peoples affected by this project, which will result in irreversible damage due to flooding of their lands, leading to the elimination of plants, medicines, wildlife, sacred lands and gravesites.
(d)According to information received, the Site C dam project proceeded despite a joint environmental review for the federal and provincial governments, which reportedly concluded that the impact of the dam on indigenous peoples would be permanent, extensive and irreversible.
(e)According to information received, the Mount Polley mine was initially approved without an environmental assessment process, or consultation with or free, prior and informed consent from the indigenous peoples potentially affected, and the mining disaster has resulted in a disproportionate and devastating impact on the water quality, food such as fish, fish habitats, traditional medicines, and the health of indigenous peoples in the area (arts. 5-6).
(d) Incorporate the free, prior and informed consent principle in the Canadian regulatory system, and amend decision-making processes around the review and approval of large-scale resource development projects such as the Site C dam;
(g) Monitor the impact of the disaster on indigenous peoples affected as a result of the disaster, and take measures to mitigate the impact through the provision of safe water and food, access to health care, and fair remedies and reparations.
21.While noting information received about recent judicial decisions allowing litigation before Canadian courts against Canadian corporations operating abroad, and about existing non-judicial mechanisms, the Committee is concerned that victims of alleged actions by transnational corporations registered in Canada, whose activities negatively impact the rights of persons outside Canada, do not have adequate access to justice. The Committee regrets that an independent ombudsman mandated to investigate such complaints has not yet been established (art. 6).
23.The Committee is alarmed at the continued high rates of violence against indigenous women and girls in the State party. While welcoming the 2016 launch of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, the Committee is concerned at the lack of an independent mechanism to re-examine cases where there is evidence of inadequate or biased investigations, and at the failure to provide regular progress reports and to build transparent and accountable relationships with survivors, families and stakeholders (arts. 2, 5 and 6).
25.The Committee is concerned about the multiple forms of discrimination faced by indigenous persons with disabilities, who reportedly face additional barriers to health care, education and social services, in particular if they are located in remote communities with inadequate access to quality services. The Committee also regrets the lack of detailed information on meaningful consultations with indigenous peoples and on the outcome of such consultations on the development of accessibility legislation (art. 5).
27.The Committee is alarmed that despite its previous recommendation (see CERD/C/CAN/CO/19-20, para. 19) and multiple decisions by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, less money is reportedly provided for child and family services for indigenous children than for children in other communities, and that this gap continues to grow. The Committee is also concerned that the federal Government has adopted an overly narrow definition of Jordan’s Principle, as stated in the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal decision First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada et al. v. Attorney General of Canada, in 2016, and has failed to address the root causes of displacement, while tens of thousands of children are needlessly removed from their families, communities and culture and placed in State care (arts. 1-2 and 5-6).
(a) Fully comply with and implement the January 2016 ruling (2016 CHRT 2) and subsequent non-compliance orders (2016 CHRT 10, 2016 CHRT 16 and 2017 CHRT 14) of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, and end the underfunding of First Nations, Inuit and Métis child and family services;
(c) Implement the full scope and meaning of Jordan ’ s Principle so that access to these services is never delayed or denied because of disputes between the federal, provincial and territorial governments over their respective responsibilities;
29.The Committee is concerned at the reported disparity in resource allocation for education and the lack of sufficient funding of mother tongue education programmes, leading to unequal access to quality education, especially for African-Canadian and indigenous children, which contributes to future socioeconomic disparity among these groups. The Committee is also concerned that African-Canadian students are reportedly disciplined more harshly than other students, which forces them out of learning environments and contributes to the “school-to-prison pipeline” (art. 5).
(b) Address funding inequalities identified in the Parliamentary Budget Officer ’ s 2016 report, and other funding inequalities of schools attended by indigenous, African-Canadian and other ethnic minority children. Work in consultation with affected groups to ensure that schools are adequately resourced and can meet the distinct cultural and linguistic needs of ethnic minority and indigenous students;
(c) Create a national education strategy to prevent the low educational attainment and high dropout, suspension and expulsion rates of African-Canadian children. Collect disaggregated data on disciplinary measures in respect of African-Canadian children, in order to monitor and track the impact of measures to reduce discriminatory effects of disciplinary procedures.
31.The Committee is concerned about reports of discriminatory hiring practices and discrimination in the workplace faced by ethnic minorities, migrants and indigenous peoples, and of high rates of unemployment of educated ethnic minorities. The Committee is concerned that reportedly no province other than Quebec has legislated mandatory employment equity for its public sector bodies, and that changes to the federal employment equity regulation have reduced the labour rights approach conditions of the mandatory contractor compliance mechanism. The Committee notes that there is no mandatory employment equity for private employers at the provincial level, which accounts for approximately 76 per cent of the country’s labour force. The Committee welcomes the data received from the Canadian Human Rights Commission and after the dialogue from the State party, however it is concerned about the lack of data on labour inspections in the State party’s report.
(e) Improve the mandatory contractor compliance mechanism ’ s labour rights approach conditions in the federal employment equity regulation;
33.The Committee is concerned that:
(a)There is no legal time limit on the detention of migrants. Nearly one third of migrants are held in provincial prisons, leading to deaths in some cases;
(b)Migrant children are detained;
(c)There is a lack of data provided to the Committee on persons in immigration detention;
(d)In the context of limitations in the Safe Third Country Agreement, there is reportedly a sharp rise in the numbers of asylum seekers attempting to enter the State party through irregular border crossings, in dangerous or life-threatening conditions;
(e)Although the temporary foreign worker programme conducts inspections, temporary migrant workers are reportedly susceptible to exploitation and abuses, and are sometimes denied basic health-care services, and employment and pension benefits to which they may make contributions;
(f)There is a lack of access to health care for undocumented migrants (art. 5).
41. The Committee wishes to draw the attention of the State party to the particular importance of the recommendations contained in paragraphs 16, 18, 20 (a), (b), (c) and (d) and 32 above and requests the State party to provide detailed information in its next periodic report on the concrete measures taken to implement those recommendations.
42. The Committee recommends that the State party ’ s reports be made readily available and accessible to the public at the time of their submission and that the concluding observations of the Committee with respect to those reports be similarly publicized in the official and other commonly used languages, as appropriate.
43. The Committee recommends that the State party submit its combined twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth periodic reports, as a single document, by 15 November 2021, taking into account the reporting guidelines adopted by the Committee during its seventy-first session (CERD/C/2007/1) and addressing all the points raised in the present concluding observations. In the light of General Assembly resolution 68/268, the Committee urges the State party to observe the limit of 21,200 words for periodic reports.