Introduction and overview

Since our last report in June 2022, the Government of Canada has undertaken extensive consultation and cooperation with Indigenous peoples to develop an Action Plan for achieving the objectives of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UN Declaration). Justice Canada and various federal government departments and agencies have consulted and cooperated with Indigenous partners across the country to identify Action Plan priorities and measures, including measures to ensure the consistency of federal laws with the UN Declaration and those related to annual reporting on progress.

In March 2023, Justice Canada released a draft action plan and "What We Learned to Date” report, which provided a summary of the proposals and priorities provided by Indigenous partners to support the implementation of the UN Declaration Act.

Following the release of the draft action plan, a second phase of consultation and cooperation was undertaken with Indigenous peoples. This phase focused on validating and refining the measures in the draft action plan and identifying gaps, and addressing them where possible.

“The UN Declaration outlines the fundamental human rights of Inuit, not aspirational policy goals. We welcome the completion of [the] Action Plan, which spells out Inuit priorities, to be implemented through the Inuit-Crown Partnership Committee, as well as key measures intended to benefit all Indigenous peoples. The success of the UN Declaration Act in implementing our human rights is contingent on ongoing collaboration. We look forward to beginning the important work of implementing the Action Plan, through a process that will require diligence and political engagement by implicated federal departments.”

Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami President Natan Obed

Purpose and scope of annual reporting

As specified in section 7 of the UN Declaration Act, annual reports must be prepared, in consultation and cooperation with Indigenous peoples, on the progress made during the previous fiscal year towards implementation of section 5 of the Act—measures to ensure consistency of laws with the UN Declaration—and section 6—the development and implementation of the Action Plan.

A necessary aspect of reporting on progress is ensuring that we capture and reflect on the perspectives of Indigenous peoples and their experiences over the past year. This report endeavours to reflect direct input provided by 17 Indigenous partners (Annex A) specifically for the purpose of preparing this annual report, as well as reflecting elements of submissions from Indigenous partners through the course of developing the Action Plan where that input related to reporting.

Some of what we heard includes a need to focus on:

Indigenous peoples’ perspectives and rights

  • Emphasizing the perspectives of Indigenous peoples regarding the fulfillment of their rights
  • Avoiding a superficial report and providing a comprehensive examination
  • Clarifying the rights-based reporting framework and the role of a distinctions-based approach

Youth engagement and self-determination

  • Advocating for a youth voice component in the report
  • Recognizing the long-term process of Indigenous self-determination and assessing progress through the reflections and expectations of youth

International perspective and best practices

  • Seeking an international perspective to learn from leading practices in other jurisdictions

Impactful stories and examples

  • Including stories about how laws have changed and their impact on Indigenous individuals' lives
  • Highlighting real-life examples, both domestically and internationally

Representation, inclusion, and spirituality

  • Desire to see Indigenous peoples represented in the report
  • Advocating for inclusive terminology and greater involvement of individuals who live in poverty, who struggle with addictions, and who are immuno-compromised, including those living with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)
  • Acknowledging the importance of framing the report with spirituality, connection to ancestors, and creation
  • Reflecting Indigenous ways of knowing and languages in the report

Overview of UN Declaration implementation by other countries and provincial and territorial governments

Several articles of the UN Declaration deal with issues that fall under or intersect with areas of provincial-territorial jurisdiction as outlined in sections 91 and 92 of the Constitution Act, 1867. These include education, health, housing, socio-economic rights and related programs, labour standards, land management, and natural resource development.

Some articles of the UN Declaration also deal with issues that intersect with other provisions of the Constitution Act, 1867, the Constitution Act, 1982 or unwritten constitutional conventions.

While the Action Plan developed pursuant to the UN Declaration Act is focused on federal measures to achieve the objectives of the UN Declaration in areas of federal authority and responsibility, some measures will be more effectively implemented through cooperative approaches with provinces and territories.

Currently, British Columbia is the only province or territory that has a legislated framework for implementation of the UN Declaration. British Columbia was also the first province in Canada to release an action plan dedicated to implementing the UN Declaration. The province released its Declaration Act Action Plan on March 30, 2022, outlining 89 specific actions.

In March 2023, the Government of the Northwest Territories introduced Bill 85, United Nations Declaration on The Rights of Indigenous Peoples Implementation Act, which provides a framework for implementation of the UN Declaration at the territorial level. The legislation affirms the UN Declaration as a universal human rights instrument with application to the Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Territories and the laws of the Government of the Northwest Territories.

Other provinces and territories have been pursuing the implementation of the UN Declaration and reconciliation more broadly through sectoral projects and initiatives. The Action Plan includes several measures that would benefit from collaboration with other levels of government. The federal government will look for every opportunity to collaborate with provinces and territories to help advance implementation of these measures.

International landscape

The New Zealand government has been working in partnership with the New Zealand Human Rights Commission (HRC), an independent Crown entity, and the National Iwi Chairs Forum (NICF), a national tribal organization, on the development of a draft plan to implement the UN Declaration in Aotearoa.

Between September 2021 and February 2022, the Ministry of Māori Development (Te Puni Kōkiri), HRC and NICF held over 70 targeted engagement workshops to hear from Indigenous communities about their aspirations for a UN Declaration plan. A key theme arising from the targeted engagement was for government to share its power and support Māori to be involved in and make decisions on issues that impact them. This applied to a range of topics, from justice, health and education to housing, the environment and cultural expression and identity.

Throughout 2022, Te Puni Kōkiri continued to work collaboratively with HRC and NICF. However, they were not able to finalise a draft UN Declaration plan as initially planned. In December 2022, the Government decided to defer a draft Declaration plan until 2024 and focus on building awareness and understanding of the Declaration and Indigenous rights.

Australia endorsed the UN Declaration in 2009. Since then, in international forums, Australia has committed to take actions to implement the UN Declaration and promote Indigenous peoples’ enjoyment of rights on an equal basis. Australia has identified the Closing the Gap Strategy as its key policy platform to give effect to the UN Declaration. Through the 2019 National Partnership Agreement on Closing the Gap, Australia committed to better involve the Coalition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peak Bodies as partners and decision makers in relation to the Strategy.

While the Australian Government has yet to take legislative steps to implement the UN Declaration domestically, it has indicated that when new legislation is introduced to federal Parliament, it must have a statement of compatibility with international human rights—defined as the rights set out in the seven international human rights treaties that Australia has ratified.

Like Australia and New Zealand, the United States expressed its support for the UN Declaration in 2011. Since then, some Indigenous Nations in the US have passed their own tribal laws to implement the UN Declaration within their communities. The Muscogee Creek Nation, for example, has passed a resolution endorsing the UN Declaration into tribal law, as have the Seminole Nation, the Cherokee Nation, and the Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission.

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