May 10, 2016 – Arviat, Nunavut – Nancy Karetak-Lindell, President of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) Canada applauds the Canadian government’s full endorsement of the UN Declaration on the Rightsof Indigenous Peoples.
Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs today announced at UN headquarters in New York that Canada will shift its position on the Declaration by removing all reservations held by the previous government.
The ICC Canada President said, “today we can truly celebrate the enormous work that ICC Canada has done over two and half decades in negotiating the Declaration with UN member states, starting in the mid-1980s.”
“It’s a new beginning.” She added, “I want to thank the Canadian government, and also recognize Inuit leaders from Russia, Alaska, Greenland and Canada who drafted and negotiated, and challenged over allthose years, and then lobbied their respective governments to ratify the Declaration.”
ICC Canada Vice President, Herb Nakimayak, also commended the Government of Canada for the direction they announced today, “Canada’s commitment to withdraw its reservations to paragraphs 3 and 20 signals a 180o shift in its approach to indigenous peoples. The commitments to obtain indigenouspeoples’ free, prior and informed consent, before adopting and implementing legislative or administrative measures that would affect us, shows progressive action.”
Ms. Karetak-Lindell concluded, “ICC Canada now welcomes the opportunity to work together with the Government as it takes concrete action in implementing the provisions of the Declaration.”
For more information:
Carole Simon, ICC Canada csimon@inuitcircumpolar.com P: 613-563-2642
Inuit Circumpolar Council – Canada
Enacted by the General Assembly in 2007, the UNDRIP recognizes indigenous people’s basic human
rights, as well as rights to self-determination, language, equality and land, among others. The Liberal
government committed to implementing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as part
of its effort to rebuild its relationships with Inuit, First Nations and Métis.