Canada goes under the international microscope

Claims that Canada has violated the Hul’qumi’num people’s human rights by not engaging in fair and just treaty negotiations were presented before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on Oct. 28 at its headquarters in Washington, DC.

The hearing, based on the merits of the Hul’qumi’num land claim, was significant because it is the first time the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is considering a Canadian Indigenous human rights issue. The commission meets several times a year to examine allegations of human rights violations in the hemisphere.
“This represents a historic opportunity to address a human rights issue in Canada that could have far-reaching implications for the Indigenous movement worldwide,” said Robert Morales, chief negotiator for the Hul’qumi’num Treaty Group (HTG).

The HTG is made up of the Vancouver Island Cowichan Tribes, Lake Cowichan First Nation, Halalt First Nation, Penelakut Tribe, Lyackson First Nation and Stz’uminus First Nation.

The group says the Canadian government is violating its 6,400 members’ human rights by failing to recognize and protect their rights to property, culture and religion, as recognized under the Organization of American States (OAS) principal human rights instrument, the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man.

Canada has been a member of the OAS since 1989.
The HTG filed a human rights complaint against the government of Canada before the OAS Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on May 10, 2007.

The complaint, filed in the form of a petition, claims that Canada has violated Hul’qumi’num’s human rights by granting approximately 85 per cent of the lands traditionally used and occupied by the group to private land owners.

The largest act of confiscation of Hul’qumi’num territory and resources by Canada was the 1884 grant of approximately 237,000 hectares (or 70 per cent of the Hul’qumi’num ancestral territories) to the E & N Railway Company, a private railroad corporation formed in the late 19th century to encourage colonization of Vancouver Island.

The HTG says the corporation, in turn, regranted many of the Hul’qumi’num traditional lands to private third parties.

Today large forestry and real estate development corporations–Hancock Timber Resource Group, TimberWest Forest Corporation, and Island Timberlands–own and control nearly 190,000 hectares of Hul’qumi’num traditional territory.

The HTG say they want Canada to fairly negotiate some form of restitution for the land grab, through the land’s return, replacement or payment of just compensation.
“That grant affects almost 100 per cent of our traditional territory,” Morales explained.

This battle between Canada and the Hul’qumi’num has been an arduous one.

Canada had argued before the commission that the British Columbia Treaty Process could provide HTG with a remedy in the form of a negotiated treaty that would settle its claims, but the commission specifically found that the treaty process had not allowed negotiations on the subject of restitution or compensation for the private lands within the group’s ancestral boundaries.

On Oct. 30, 2009, the commission ruled that HTG’s petition was admissible. In the ruling, the commission agreed with HTG that Canada has failed to provide an effective remedy for its alleged violations of the Hul’qumi’num people’s human rights.

But Canada maintains it is continuing its talks with Hul’qumi’num and says that private lands claims are not off the negotiating table. They remain hopeful that there will be some agreement made.

“Canada remains optimistic that a comprehensive agreement with the Hul’qumi’num is possible through negotiation and can be achieved with sustained effort from all parties,” said Michelle Perron, spokesperson for Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC).

“The treaty process provides for land to be negotiated as part of a treaty settlement. These lands may be Crown lands or they may be private lands acquired on a willing seller/willing buyer basis,” she continued.

“Modern treaties provide First Nations with a capital transfer which they may use to purchase additional lands. If all parties agree, provisions may be added to a treaty to accommodate future additions of land by the First Nations that can be designated as Treaty Settlement Land.”

Canada would not comment on the HTG petition put forward to the commission.

“As this petition is before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, it would be inappropriate to comment on the HTG petition,” AANDC stated.

But while the HTG await a decision from the human rights hearing held in October, they continue to spread pubic awareness of their case and have gained the support of many groups, including Amnesty International Canada, Ancient Forest Alliance, Canadian Friends Service Committee, Ecotrust, First Nations Summit, Grand Council of the Crees, KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives and Lawyer’s Rights Watch Canada.

Union of BC Indian Chiefs Grand Chief Stewart Phillip described those who would claim ownership of Indigenous lands as “dark forces that seek to exploit the land for greed and profit.” He stressed the importance of First Nations unity in regard to land rights and treaty fights.

“We need to come together and we need to collectively oppose the efforts of Canada to smother our Indigenous land rights.”

“Indigenous land rights are not a new issue,” he continued. “It goes back hundreds and hundreds of years and it is an ugly, ugly story,” said Phillip.

“It goes back to the time when the Conquistadors went over to the Americas and slaughtered millions and millions of Indigenous peoples for gold. And the Indigenous land rights struggle has continued right up to this very day.”

Those struggles are indeed ongoing for the Hul’qumi’num peoples, but whether or not the HTG will be triumphant in its dispute against Canada, only time will tell.

Regardless, Morales said the issue and future outcomes will undoubtedly shed light on just how seriously Canada considers recommendations made by international law and human rights organizations.

For now, however, Canada is standing behind its home grown solution to the situation.

Photo caption: Rosanne Daniels and Robert Morales of the Hul’qumi’num Treaty Group are supported by Union of BC Indian Chiefs Grand Chief Stewart Phillip and his wife Joan Phillip, a councillor for the Penticton Indian Band, in a human rights case launched against Canada internationally.