Canada

Johanne Durocher is the mother of Nathalie Morin, a Quebec woman who has lived in Saudi Arabia since 2005 with her husband and four children. Nathalie, who Amnesty International considers to be a survivor of gender-based violence, has unsuccessfully been trying to return to Canada with her children for 15 years. Amnesty International spoke with Johanne about her tireless advocacy to bring her daughter and grandchildren to Canada, and about her recently released book outlining her struggle for family reunification.

She met him in the beginning of October 2001. He said he was a student at Concordia University. She got pregnant right away. Saeed was very smiley and said it wasn’t a problem because they would get married. I was in shock. I couldn’t believe that at age 17 she was pregnant. He said he was 24 years old but we were never really sure of his age.

Amnesty International has worked closely with grassroots activist Connie Greyeyes for many years, most notably on the Out of Sight, Out of Mind report on the intersection of gender rights, Indigenous rights, and energy development in northeast British Columbia. Connie lives in Fort St. John, BC and is a member of the Bigstone Cree First Nation in Alberta. She is the daughter of residential school survivors and the Northern Case Manager for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls with the Indian Residential School Survivors Society (IRSSS). On June 15, 2021, Amnesty International spoke with Connie about the impact the discovery of the remains of 215 Indigenous children on the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School has had on her.

All people should have the right to a healthy environment, including clean air, water and soil, and a safe and stable climate. That's why Amnesty Canada has joined forces with a diverse coalition of organizations to launch the Coalition for Environmental Rights today.

The organizations that comprise the Coalition for Environmental Rights share a collective interest in fighting environmental injustice using a human rights-based approach. We recognize that Canada’s unfair pattern of environmental harm is a reflection of deeper systemic issues that require systemic change. 

Our goal is to ensure that the right to a healthy environment is recognized in law and in practice in Canada. We strive to bring to light the inadequacy of existing laws and resulting failures to protect people, and explore how achieving recognition of the right to a healthy environment could strengthen environmental governance. 

For more information about the Coalition for Environmental Rights, please visit this website: www.environmentalrights.ca

On June 3, 2019, the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls released its final report, with 231 Calls for Justice.

The Government of Canada must do more to prevent human rights abuses by Canadian companies operating overseas.

In 2019, Canada created the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise, but failed to give the ombudsperson the powers needed to conduct effective investigations into human rights abuses involving Canadian companies. Amnesty continues to press the government to give the Ombudsperson the power to compel documents and testimony. 

Guest blog by Eric Doherty, member of AI Canada’s Corporate Accountability and Climate Justice specialized team on Energy Transition. To join, please send an email to Elena: edumitru@amnesty.ca and indicate your interest in the Energy Transition team. 

Last month the U.S. Department of Transportation put a Texas highway expansion project on hold, because it could violate U.S. human rights law by increasing pollution and displacing people from their homes in lower income Black and Latino neighbourhoods. And, after some intense campaigning by climate justice organizations like the Sunrise Movement, under the Biden administration, U.S. transportation spending is finally being shifted away from highway expansion and toward public transit.

People understand climate change as an environmental issue of course, but tend to forget that it affects our basic human rights too. The rights to life, health, food, water, housing, security and the rights of Indigenous peoples.

While all of us are affected by climate change, disadvantaged communities around the world and right here in Canada -  that have done the least to cause climate change - will be hit the hardest.  From those who live in coastal communities, to poorer communities who experience toxic and polluted air, and indigenous people who frequently live and depend on fragile ecosystems that are in danger.

Climate change is a crisis. And the Canadian government must act like it is. 

The response of the Canadian government so far has been lethargic in commitment and inadequate in response. 

Simply put -  Canada needs to do more, and do more now!