Honouring the Truth Reconciling for the Future

244 • Truth & Reconciliation Commissionand reversing the legacies of empire, discrimination, and cultural suffocation.It does not do so to condone vengefulness or spite for past evils, or to fosterdivisiveness but rather to build a social and political order based on relations ofmutual understanding and respect. That is what the right of self-determinationof indigenous peoples, and all other peoples, is about. 9Canada, as a member of the United Nations, initially refused to adopt theDeclaration. It joined the United States, Australia, and New Zealand in doing so. Itis not coincidence that all these nations have a common history as part of the BritishEmpire. The historical treatment of Aboriginal peoples in these other countries hasstrong parallels to what happened to Aboriginal peoples in Canada. Specifically,Canada objected to the Declaration’sprovisions dealing with lands, territories and resources; free, prior and informedconsent when used as a veto; self-government without recognition of theimportance of negotiations; intellectual property; military issues; and theneed to achieve an appropriate balance between the rights and obligations ofIndigenous peoples, member States and third parties. 10Although these four countries eventually endorsed the Declaration, they have alldone so conditionally. In 2010, Canada endorsed the Declaration as a “non-legallybinding aspirational document.” 11 Despite this endorsement, we believe that the provisionsand the vision of the Declaration do not currently enjoy government acceptance.However, because Canada has accepted the Declaration, we hold the federalgovernment to its word that it will genuinely aspire to achieve its provisions.In 2011, Canadian churches and social justice advocacy groups who had campaignedfor Canada’s adoption of the Declaration urged the federal governmentto implement it. However, Canada’s interpretation of the Declaration remainedunchanged. On September 22, 2014, at the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples(wcip) in New York, the United Nations General Assembly adopted an action-oriented“Outcome Document” to guide the implementation of the Declaration. Member statesfrom around the world committed, among other things, to the following:Taking, in consultation and cooperation with indigenous peoples, appropriatemeasures at the national level, including legislative, policy, and administrativemeasures, to achieve the ends of the Declaration, and to promote awareness ofit among all sectors of society, including members of legislatures, the judiciaryand the civil service.… [para. 7] We commit ourselves to cooperating withindigenous peoples, through their own representative institutions, to developand implement national action plans, strategies or other measures, whererelevant, to achieve the ends of the Declaration [para. 8] … [and also] encouragethe private sector, civil society and academic institutions to take an active role inpromoting and protecting the rights of indigenous peoples. [para. 30] 12