The Strongroup & WhiteMoose

[TogetherWeStand]

ADVANCE EDITED
VERSION
Distr.
GENERAL
E/CN.4/2005/88/Add.3
2 December 2004
Original: ENGLISH

COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
Sixty-first session
Item 15 of the provisional agenda
INDIGENOUS ISSUES
Human rights and indigenous issues
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and
fundamental freedoms of indigenous people, Rodolfo Stavenhagen
Addendum
MISSION TO CANADA*


E/CN.4/2005/88/Add.3

REPORT OF THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON THE SITUATION OF
HUMAN RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS OF INDIGENOUS
PEOPLE, RODOLFO STAVENHAGEN, ON HIS MISSION TO CANADA
(21 MAY TO 4 JUNE 2004)


D. Prospects and problems of natural resource management
and environmental conservation
47. The Special Rapporteur received numerous complaints from Aboriginal people regarding
issues relating to their access to natural resources such as forests and fisheries. Their inherent
right over natural resources is in many instances not recognized by the various orders of
government and frequently the authorities apply other laws and statutes that limit the exercise of such Aboriginal rights.

48. For example, the Anishinaabe Nation in Ontario have experienced high levels of mercury
contamination in their waters, fish and wildlife as a result of industrial wastes and poor forest
management by non-Aboriginal business corporations, so that the health of the local population has been seriously affected. The Nation’s Grand Chief insisted that “the health of the land and the people must be valued higher than the profit margins and stock values of multinational corporations”, and that the community demands full partnership and participation in the management of their resources in view of their own sustainable development. Road blockades to stop people and equipment from engaging in activities that are not in compliance with Anishinaabe law, such as clear-cutting, began at Grassy Narrows in December 2002.

49. By the late 1980s, the combined effect of clear-cut logging, flooding and fluctuating
water levels from the operation of dams and reservoirs, as well as the depletion of fish and game stocks, caused the Algonquins of Barriere Lake, Quebec, to organize a peaceful campaign of protests and blockades. Eventually, they signed a trilateral agreement with the federal and provincial governments that provides for local participation in resource management decisions. While the Government has provided resources to upgrade the housing stock in Barriere Lake, living conditions in the community are still below average, the housing situation is severe, and poverty and unemployment are high. Internal community divisions continue to plague negotiations with the authorities, and full implementation of the agreement has not yet been achieved.

50. As a result of two landmark Supreme Court decisions (Sparrow and Marshall) declaring
that there is an Aboriginal right to fish for food and for social and ceremonial purposes, which takes priority over all other uses of fishery except conservation, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans decided to manage fisheries in agreement with 30 of the 34 affected First Nations; it also signed longer-term fishery agreements with 22 bands, and negotiations are continuing. The Special Rapporteur visited one Mi’kmaq fishing community in Nova Scotia, Indian Brook, where the Department’s licensing regulations are not in line with the Supreme Court’s ruling on Aboriginal fishing rights, leading to confrontation between Mi’kmaq fishermen and government officials, and to renewed litigation. RCAP wisely suggests that the federal administration should proceed to protect Aboriginal rights in the light of Supreme Court rulings rather than to treat Aboriginals who exercise their rights as adversaries. In the opinion of the Special Rapporteur, that approach would also be consistent with international human rights practice.

51. Environmental concerns are widespread among Aboriginal peoples. The Arctic
ecosystem is particularly vulnerable to the severe effects of global warming on the food supply, health and lifestyles of local Inuit communities. The Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference, Sheila Watt-Cloutier of Nunavut, declared: “We have gone from the ‘ice age’ to the ‘space age’ in one generation …. The human rights of Inuit are under threat as a result of human-induced climate change. When we can no longer hunt on the sea-ice, and eat what we hunt, we will no longer exist as a people” and, referring to Persistent Organic Pollutants, added: “a poisoned Inuit child means a poisoned Arctic, means a poisoned planet”. The Special Rapporteur shares this very serious concern and would like to draw the urgent attention of the Government of Canada and all members of the United Nations to the need for concerted action in this remote area of the world concerning the human rights implications of environmental changes for Arctic peoples.
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North,South, East, and West are connected ... Protect the North.