COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION TAKES UP THE THIRTEENTH AND FOURTEENTH REPORTS OF CANADA

CERD
61st session
5 August 2002
Afternoon



Canada Is Deeply Committed to the Eradication
of Racial Discrimination, Delegation Affirms



A Canadian official told the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination this afternoon that Canada was deeply committed to the eradication of racial discrimination and had invested years of effort in the fight against racial discrimination and intolerance domestically and internationally.
The remark came as the Committee started its consideration of the thirteenth and fourteenth periodic reports of Canada. Introducing the reports, Norman Moyer, Assistant Deputy Minister for Public Affairs and Communication, Canadian Heritage, also said that Canada would continue in its efforts to develop and share tangible and innovative initiatives to combat racism in all its forms.
Kurt Herndl, the Committee Expert who served as country rapporteur to the reports of Canada, said that they followed the guidelines of the Committee; however, they did not give a comprehensive picture of the measures adopted by Canada to implement the provisions of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and they did not help to understand the interaction between the federal and provincial levels. He suggested that in the future, reports should contain information concerning the activities of the provincial authorities designed to comply with the International Convention.
The following Committee Experts also participated in the discussion: Luis Valencia Rodriguez, Raghavan Vasudevan Pillai, Nourredine Amir, Patrick Thornberry, Linos Alexander Sicilianos, Tang Chengyuan, Jose Augusto Lindgren Alves, Morten Kjaerum, Yuri A. Reshetov, Mahmoud Aboul-Nasr and Regis de Gouttes,
The Canadian delegation was also made up of Sylvie Groulx, Director, Multiculturalism Programme, Ministry of Canadian Heritage; Jose Bazinet, Policy Unit, Multiculturalism Strategic Policy and Research; Calie McPhee, Manager, Human Rights Programme; Ghislain Hardy, Executive Assistant, Multiculturalism and Aboriginal Peoples; Christine Gonthier, Communications Advisor; Adrian Norfolk, Deputy Director, Human Rights Humanitarian Affairs and International Women's Equality Division, Foreign Affairs and International Trade; Sandra Ginnish, Director General, Treaties, Research, International and Gender Equality Branch, Ministry Indian and Northern Affairs; Johanne Levasseur, Senior Counsel, Human Rights Law Section, and Florence Chumpuka, Counsel, Public Law Policy Section, from the Ministry of Justice; William Lundy, Counsellor, Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations in Geneva; and Ritu Banerjee, Policy Advisor, Ministry of the Solicitor General.
Canada is among the 162 States parties to the International Convention; accordingly, it is obligated to provide the Committee with periodic reports on its continued efforts to implement the provisions of the treaty.
The Committee will continue its consideration of the Canadian reports when it reconvenes at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 6 August.

Reports of Canada
The thirteenth and fourteenth periodic reports of Canada (CERD/C/320/Add.5) contain information on the measures adopted by the Government of Canada and the provincial and territorial governments in order to comply with the provisions of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. They also take into account comments made by members of the Committee during their examination of previous reports, and their requests for additional information.
The reports note that while the International Convention does not specifically refer to indigenous peoples, the reports continue the practice of covering aspects of the situation of the Aboriginal peoples of Canada that are relevant to the Convention. They emphasize that the Aboriginal peoples of Canada are not considered to be members of an "ethnic group", by either Aboriginal peoples themselves or the Federal Government. Emphasis is accorded to the unique situation of Aboriginal peoples as Canada's original inhabitants and the reports affirm their special relationship with the State, based on unique entitlements.
The reports further note that Canada prides itself on being a truly multicultural society, its cultural diversity being a demographic reality as well as a social reality that flows from the country's history and development. Immigration has played a significant role in the growth of the country, and in recent decades, Canada has drawn large numbers of immigrants of virtually every ethnic origin, colour, and religious and cultural tradition.
The reports say that the federal Government recognizes that Aboriginal peoples are over-represented in the Canadian criminal justice system as victims and offenders. Through the Aboriginal Justice Initiative, the Government has been gathering information to develop policies with the goal of increasing participation by Aboriginal communities in local administration of justice, and reducing the representation of Aboriginal peoples in the justice system over the long term. The Aboriginal Justice Initiative has been successful in providing funding for pilot projects in Aboriginal and urban communities, research and knowledge advancement, as well as educational and cross-cultural activities.

Presentation of Canadian Reports
NORMAN MOYER, Assistant Deputy Minister, Public Affairs and Communication, Canadian Heritage, Canada, said that racism or any form of discrimination against any group or individual within the Canadian society would undermine the very fabric of Canadian life, disturb the social balance which the society endeavoured to attain, and would be contrary to the fundamental values of the country. The Government of Canada had drawn a solid legal framework in order to ensure that Canadians were protected against racism and discrimination.
Mr. Moyer said that since the inception of the country, 14 million people had immigrated to Canada; Canadian society had become a truly multicultural, multi-ethnic and multi-racial society. Since the Second World War, particularly since the 1960s, Canada had attracted a great number of immigrants of all origins, colour, religions and cultural traditions. The 1996 census indicated the arrival of 5 million immigrants. Last year, Canada had hosted 250,000 new immigrants.
Mr. Moyer further said that his country shared the Committee's concern that measures taken in the struggle against terrorism should not conflict with States' obligations to promote and protect human rights. The preamble to Canada's Anti-Terrorism Act stated explicitly that the Parliament of Canada "is committed to taking comprehensive measures to protect Canadians against terrorism activity while continuing to respect and promote the values reflected in, and the rights and freedoms guaranteed by, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms". In order to send a strong message about the incidents following 11 September, the Government had added specific measures to the Anti-Terrorism Act. In addition to improving the protection provided to Canadians from acts of terrorism, the Act provided measures of further protection against hatred.
Canada's Multiculturalism Policy -- now in its thirtieth year -- was addressed to all citizens, not only to ethno-cultural communities alone, Mr. Moyer said. Initially, multiculturalism programming focused on the needs of specific groups that were separate from the mainstream, enabling those groups to preserve and celebrate their cultural identities. Over the past three decades, however, Canada's approach to multiculturalism had become more inclusive, focusing on the need for a shared sense of citizenship and cross-cultural dialogue and understanding across the full breadth of the population.
Mr. Moyer said that the Canadian Race Relations Foundation had been successfully established with an endowment of $24 million. The Foundation was established to "foster racial harmony and cross-cultural understanding and to help to eliminate racism". As a national institution, the Foundation worked in partnership with provincial and territorial organizations.
In conclusion, Mr. Moyer affirmed that Canada was deeply committed to the eradication of racial discrimination, even as it acknowledged that it still existed. Canada had invested years of effort in the fight against racial discrimination and intolerance, domestically and internationally, and the Government would continue in its efforts to develop and share tangible and innovative initiatives to combat racism in all its forms.

Discussion
KURT HERNDL, the Committee Expert who served as country rapporteur to the reports of Canada, noted that Canada had enacted the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in order to continue its protection and promotion of human rights of citizens.
Mr. Herndl said that the Canadian Race Relations Foundation had been created in 1997 for the promotion of racial harmony, with the investment of a substantial amount of money; but further information should be provided about the role of the Foundation.
He said that the reports had followed the guidelines of the Committee; however, they did not give a comprehensive picture of the measures adopted by Canada to implement the provisions of the Convention and they did not help to understand the interaction between the federal and provincial levels. He suggested that in the future, the reports should contain information concerning the activities of the provincial authorities aimed at complying with the treaty within the constitutional provisions.
Mr. Herndl recalled that there had been a remark made in the past that the Federal Government did not compel the provincial governments to comply with the requirements of the Convention; that situation was still a concern to the Committee.
Mr. Herndl asked the delegation about the measures taken by the Government to implement the decisions of the Supreme Court with regard to Aboriginal land titles. Did the Government take measures to facilitate "proof of aboriginal title"?
Referring to the new Employment Equity Act, which entered into force in October 1996, Mr. Herndl said that with regard to the federally-regulated private section there was an exception clause saying that there were no obligations to implement initiatives that would constitute any undue hardship for an employer to create new positions, to establish quotas, or to hire and promote unqualified employees. The delegation was requested to elaborate on the issue.
Mr. Herndl said that there were wage gaps between citizens and immigrants; and the poverty rate among migrants was higher than the rest of the population. In the field of education, the children of migrants had less opportunity than Canadians.
In his conclusion, Mr. Herndl asked about the position of the Government of Canada in making a declaration recognizing the competence of the Committee to receive and consider individual complaints.
Other Committee members also raised a number of questions and made remarks on the contents of the reports. An Expert said that the Government should continue to inform the Committee on any discriminatory practices involving indigenous people. At present, discriminatory practices had been indicated in the field of employment. The Government should take further efforts to reduce such incidents. At the provincial level, it was essential that laws should be enacted to criminalize acts of racial discrimination. The federal and other governments should strengthen their training programmes in human rights with the view to fully implementing the provisions of the International Convention.
Another Expert said that the reports did not indicate the involvement of civil society with the racial issue. What was the role of civil society with regard to the fight against racial discrimination?
An Expert asked the views of the delegation on criticism that the act of Aboriginal land dispossession would lead to discrimination. What kind of development could destroy the Aboriginal land title?
Another Expert noted that the reports had indicated that a number of complaints had been lodged by individuals, but that only a few of them had been brought before the courts. In addition he asked what was the objective of the multiculturalism policy?
According to the reports, the Canadian Government had taken measures to eliminate racial discrimination, an Expert said. That was appreciable progress towards attaining a tolerable society. What was meant by "invisible minorities"? The problem of prejudice against Chinese, for instance, was not yet resolved. The problem should be resolved as part of the Government's efforts to eliminate racial discrimination. Discrimination apparently also existed towards people of African origin, which the Government should eliminate. It was true that the Government of Canada had taken a number of measures to reduce discriminatory incidents, however, it should continue to make further efforts in that field.
Another Expert appreciated the frankness of the reports in exposing the human rights situation in Canada. He, however, said that many things had happened in the country following the 11 September incidents: people with Middle-Eastern names had been apprehended and mosques had been destroyed.
An Expert asked about the role of non-governmental organizations in the preparation of the reports. Turning to the justice system, the Expert asked if crimes of racial discrimination were considered as aggravating offences as stipulated by article 4 of the Convention. He also asked about the measures taken by the Government to deter the activities of racist organizations and to ban them.



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