Wilson-Raybould lays out vision for UN indigenous rights declaration
VANCOUVER — Canada must adopt the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in a way that translates into real change for its aboriginal citizens, federal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould says.
She told an annual gathering of British Columbia cabinet ministers and First Nations leaders on Wednesday that it’s important to appreciate why Canada cannot simply incorporate the declaration “word for word” into law.
“The hard and sometimes painful truth is that many of our current realities do not align with the standards of the United Nations declaration, and as such they must be systemically and coherently dismantled,” she said.
The declaration spells out minimum standards for the rights of aboriginal people, including a key article that enshrines the right to self-determination and the right to lands, territories and natural resources that they traditionally owned or occupied.