Coalition letters

August 4, 2020

Dear Minister Ng,

We were grateful for the opportunity to meet by phone with members of your staff on July 22. We asked for the call following the unsatisfactory response from Export Development Canada’s President and CEO, Mairead Lavery, to the thousands of emails she received from Amnesty Canada supporters and others. The emails denounced EDC’s 2016 loan to help build the Hidroituango dam in Colombia and called on the agency to provide reparations to the affected communities and advocate for their protection.

(La version française suit)

September 12, 2019

Canadian organizations call on political leaders to respect dignity of refugees and migrants during federal election campaign

Organizations and community leaders across Canada are calling on the leaders of federal political parties to respect the dignity of refugees and vulnerable migrants during the upcoming election campaign. Over 150 Canadian organizations from diverse sectors have signed an open letter.

Sent to all federal parties in June, the letter was drafted by the Canadian Council for Refugees, Amnesty International, the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers and The Canadian Council of Churches as an expression of the organizations’ concern about how refugees and migrants in Canada may be characterized during the 2019 federal election campaign. The letter calls on leaders to engage in discussions about migration in ways that recognize:

The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau
Prime Minister of Canada
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A2

June 20, 2019

Dear Prime Minister,

We are writing this Open Letter to you, as members of the Canadian Coalition on Human Rights in China,1 in advance of the 2019 G20 Summit, to be held in Osaka, Japan on June 28-29. We are writing in response to media reports that you are seeking a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Summit and to share with you nine crucial human rights recommendations to press with President Xi if such a meeting does occur. More broadly, these are points that we urge you, your Ministers and all Canadian government officials to raise in meetings and other exchanges with Chinese counterparts, be it in connection with the G20 Summit or other opportunities over the coming weeks and months.

The Honourable Ahmed Hussen, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship House of Commons
Ottawa ON K1A 0A6

Dear Minister,

Re: Independence of Canada’s refugee determination system

An independent review of refugee determination procedures at the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) was established last spring to examine opportunities for enhanced efficiency and productivity.  To date, the results of this review have not been released. There are concerns that the government is considering undermining the role of the IRB as an independent quasi-judicial tribunal responsible for refugee determination in Canada. We are writing to insist that in any new scenario, the independence of the IRB and refugee determination system in Canada be preserved, and that the idea of eliminating the independent adjudication of refugee claims not be taken any further.

Open Letter to All Members of Parliament

Bill C-262 provides principled framework for implementing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Our nations and organizations are urging all Members of Parliament to support Bill C-262 in a non-partisan manner when it comes to a vote at third reading.

The government of Stephen Harper endorsed the UN Declaration in 2010 and expressed “confidence” that the Declaration is consistent with Canada’s Constitution and legal framework. The government of Justin Trudeau has repeatedly pledged to fully implement the Declaration. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, whose Calls to Action have been widely endorsed by a wide range of political parties at the federal, provincial and territorial levels, urged all governments to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as ‘the framework for reconciliation’ in Canada.  

UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

Sixteenth Session

Thursday April 27, 2017

Agenda Item 4

Speaker: Grand Chief Wilton Littlechild

Joint Statement by: Confederacy of Treaty No. 6; Amnesty International; Assembly of First Nations; Assemblée des Premières Nations du Québec et Labrador/Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador; Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee); First Nations Summit; BC Assembly of First Nations; Canadian Friends Service Committee (Quakers); Union of BC Indian Chiefs; KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives

The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples constitutes a social, political, legal, and historical reality. The Declaration recognizes that “respect for indigenous knowledge, cultures and traditional practices contributes to sustainable and equitable development and proper management of the environment”.

The new American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, adopted in June 2015, affirms in Article XIX:

23 February 2017

The Honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
284 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H8
mcu@justice.gc.ca

The Honourable Carolyn Bennett
Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs
10 Wellington, North Tower
Gatineau, Québec K1A 0H4
minister@aadnc-aandc.gc.ca

Dear Ministers,

When it comes to ending discrimination against children, there is no excuse for half-measures and no time for delay.

Today marks 10 years since the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society and the Assembly of First Nations launched an historic challenge under the Canadian Human Rights Act, a challenge aimed at compelling the federal government to finally end the longstanding, systemic underfunding of First Nations children’s services.