UN urges Canada to end mistreatment of Aboriginal peoples (Video)
The United Nations has called on Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government to end mistreatment of Aboriginal peoples, calling the current situation a crisis, Press TV reports. | www.whitewolfpack.com
“The Canadian Human Rights Commission has consistently said that the conditions of Aboriginal peoples make for the most serious human rights problem,” said UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples James Anaya during a visit to Ottawa on Monday. The UN official criticized the Canadian government for failing to build trust with the First Nations people, and to narrow the disparity between Aboriginal members and non-indigenous people. Anaya stated that Harper’s government needs to address certain issues, including the government-run residential schools, poor education and health of Aboriginals, and investigate the missing and murdered Aboriginals. On October 15, the UN rapporteur urged the Canadian government to launch a “comprehensive and nationwide” inquiry into the case of missing and murdered Aboriginal women, something the Canadian government has refused to do.
Aboriginals are not happy with their situation in Canada and say it is unacceptable that the government does not consult them before exploiting the resources on their lands. Violent conflicts have also erupted in cities across Canada, including Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa and Thunder Bay, as well as in New York in the United States, and at the Canadian Embassy in Washington over the past week, with demonstrators protesting against gas exploration on Canada’s native lands. According to a 2011 census, Canada has 1.4 million Aboriginals, which is nearly 4.3 percent of its overall population.
