As Canada vies for UN Human Rights Council seat, some Indigenous leaders from the Amazon raise red flags

[Judi Lynn]

TAVIA GRANT
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
PUBLISHED DECEMBER 30, 2023

As Canada vies for a seat on the United Nations human rights council, Indigenous leaders and environmental advocates have launched a co-ordinated campaign drawing attention to Canadian companies operating in the Amazon region and raising questions about their environmental and human rights track record.

Seizing on Canada’s efforts to land a seat on the 47-member council, a vote that will take place in 2027, the group has called on the federal government to take greater responsibility for how it monitors the resource companies in the country’s large and influential extractive industry.

In August, ahead of a UN human rights review of Canada, a delegation of Indigenous leaders, lawyers, community representatives and advocates from Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia and Peru travelled to Geneva, Switzerland to deliver a message to the international community.

Lorena Curuaia, a member of the delegation and part of the Iawá community in northern Brazil, said in an interview that Canada is not fulfilling its obligations to ensure Indigenous rights are respected and the environment protected when it comes to oversight of Canadian companies abroad.

. . .

A joint submission to the United Nations from 33 non-governmental organizations and advocacy groups, including California-based Amazon Watch, said Canada’s failure to take adequate measures to regulate the conduct of Canadian companies abroad “has contributed to the systematic violation of human and environmental rights in the Amazon.” Canadian mining and oil companies, according to a 2021 study by the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue, had a larger share of foreign ownership in the rain forest than any other country.

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https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-as-canada-vies-for-un-human-rights-council-seat-some-indigenous/