Canada faces some ‘deeply entrenched’ human rights challenges: Human Rights Watch

By Tom Yun

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    TORONTO (CTV Network) — A new report warns of a global backsliding of human rights around the world and says even in Canada, “a range of deeply entrenched challenges remain.”

The report, published by Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday, looked at the state of human rights, civil liberties and democratic institutions in more than 100 countries, including Canada.

Regarding Canada, HRW said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has “taken significant steps to advance human rights at home and abroad,” but argues that there’s more work to be done, especially when it comes to Indigenous rights, immigration detainees and climate change.

On the issue of Indigenous rights, the report pointed to several ongoing lawsuits and human rights complaints filed by Indigenous groups in 2023.

Last April, nine First Nations police forces filed a human rights complaint against the federal government, saying their communities face “chronic underfunding and under-resourcing” when it comes to safety

April also saw 10 First Nation communities in northern Ontario sue the provincial and federal governments over proposed mining activities in the Ring of Fire region, arguing broken treaty promises.

In addition, the report called into question the lack of an independent civilian oversight body for the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and called for an end to indefinite detention for immigration detainees.

“With no time limits on immigration detention, they can be detained for months or years and are at risk of being held indefinitely. Many are held in provincial jails alongside people detained on criminal charges or convictions, and they are also sometimes subjected to solitary confinement,” the report stated.

HRW argues CBSA’s lack of oversight has “repeatedly resulted in serious human rights violations in the context of immigration detention.”

In May 2022, then-public safety minister Marco Mendicino introduced a bill to establish an independent watchdog for the CBSA, but it has not yet passed.

The HRW report also says Canada’s actions on climate change policy, as one of the highest per-capita greenhouse gas emitters in the world, have been inadequate. The report also criticized the country’s ongoing pipeline expansions and extraction from the oil sands.

“The government continues to permit oil and gas pipeline expansions, including on First Nations’ lands. Plans to increase fossil fuel production disregard the government’s human rights obligation to adopt and implement robust climate mitigation policies,” the report said.

CANADA AND THE WORLD

HRW says the federal government has also “failed to address serious human rights concerns beyond Canada’s borders,” including from Canadian companies conducting business overseas.

This includes allegations from June 2022 that Canadian companies had used or benefited from Uyghur forced labour in Xinjiang, China, as well as allegations of human rights abuses from Canadian mining companies operating overseas.

HRW also criticized Canada for failing to provide consular assistance or repatriate a group of Canadians, including children, detained in prison camps in Kurdish-controlled Syria.

At least 26 people with Canadian ties remained detained by Kurdish authorities in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions. Meanwhile, the federal government has argued that Canada isn’t legally obligated to bring home the detainees, and said it was too dangerous for consular officials to visit the region.

The report also warns that acts of “transnational repression,” which refers to human rights abuses in other countries, have been on the rise, citing the allegations of Indian government involvement in assassination attempts overseas as an example.

Last September, Trudeau announced there were “credible allegations” that agents of the Indian government were involved in the killing of a Canadian Sikh separatist leader in B.C. In November, the U.S. Department of Justice said an Indian government official was involved in a foiled assassination plot of another Sikh separatist leader in New York.

“Silence on the Indian government’s worsening rights record appears to have emboldened the (Narendra) Modi government to extend repressive tactics across borders, including to intimidate diaspora activists and academics or restrict their entry into India,” HRW said.

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