Context setting (background)

Action Plan Shared Priorities Measure (SP) 14

Develop and implement foundational training co-created by Indigenous subject matter experts, including with the Canada School of Public Service, for federal public servants that will build fundamental understanding and competence about the history, rights and title of Indigenous peoples, treaties, the UN Declaration, the UN Declaration Act, the dynamics of respectful relations, Indigenous-specific systemic racism, and meaningful reconciliation.

Action Plan Shared Priorities Measure (SP) 18

Develop and distribute, in collaboration with Indigenous educational organizations, museums and other organizations, as appropriate, educational materials to inform non-Indigenous Canadians on the UN Declaration and the human rights of Indigenous peoples.

The federal government is implementing the UN Declaration Act Action Plan alongside continued advancement of other federal reconciliation initiatives such as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) Calls to ActionFootnote 1, the National Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Calls for Justice, and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. SP14 speaks to the need for education on issues related to Indigenous people and policies—such as their histories, rights, and titles—broader than the UN Declaration and the UN Declaration Act, as a foundation to this work. The measure was developed to ensure public servants’ greater understanding of Indigenous peoples and their rights informs their work and relationships with Indigenous peoples.

Training is a government-wide initiative; hence several departments are responsible for implementing SP14 and are reporting on their work in the UN Declaration Act Annual Report. Justice Canada has identified offering standardized foundational UN Declaration Act and UN Declaration training for public servants as an early deliverable of SP14. Justice Canada has taken the lead to coordinate inter-departmentally together with the CSPS by developing and co-chairing an UN Declaration Act Training Working Group for government departments and agencies.

To support the passage of Bill C-15 (that became the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act) and the development of the UN Declaration Act Action Plan, Justice Canada developed training on the UN Declaration and on the UN Declaration Act. Given the high immediate demand for training and resourcing constraints related to the statutory obligation to deliver the Action Plan by June 2023, Justice Canada did not co-create these training materials with Indigenous subject matter experts. The materials therefore reflect the federal government’s interpretation and understanding to a greater extent.

In addition, Justice Canada and the CSPS collaborated to co-create two video-taped events on UN Declaration Act implementation in 2022 and 2023. The first event involved working closely with representatives of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) and the Métis National Council (MNC) and senior government officials and is available to the public on the CSPS. The second event was co-created with Indigenous subject matter experts who comprised the speakers. Short clips have been created and are available to public servants through a UN Declaration Act portal hosted by the CSPS.

As the policy lead on the UN Declaration Act, Justice Canada has been delivering training on the UN Declaration and the UN Declaration Act to public servants across the government and decided to engage in a broad consultation and cooperation initiative with Indigenous partners to support implementation of SP14. While not the focus of the process, SP18 was also discussed to a lesser extent with Indigenous partners.

Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC) leads on 44 of the 181 measures in the UN Declaration Act Action Plan. Given the high level of responsibility for UN Declaration Act implementation, CIRNAC developed their own internal training materials. Though departmental officials are familiar with treaty and constitutional rights, it was noted that they were not as familiar with the human rights principles that underline the UN Declaration. Their training material covers the UN Declaration in detail and addresses some possible misunderstandings. CIRNAC training was developed internally and was originally delivered live virtually. It is now delivered as a self-paced online course within CIRNAC although Indigenous Services Canada continues to deliver in-person virtual training.

For SP18, Justice Canada focused on relationship-building with Indigenous partners to lay the groundwork for consultation and cooperation on development and distribution of educational materials on the UN Declaration and the human rights of Indigenous peoples in collaboration with Indigenous educational organizations, museums, and other organizations. Indigenous partners identified priority learning topics for non-Indigenous Canadians as well as Indigenous peoples and informed us about the educational work they are doing. Indigenous partners identified the need within their communities for learning as well, to ensure awareness of the UN Declaration and their rights under it. Some Indigenous partners emphasized the importance of co-developing training materials with Indigenous communities and the need for this to be funded.

As part of the work on SP18, Justice Canada collaborated with the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation to create and deliver a videotaped hybrid event held at the Canadian Museum of History on September 26, 2024. An Indigenous, all-female panel talked about community perspectives on the UN Declaration. Over 5,541 people attended the event, in-person and online.

Methodology

Justice Canada reached out to 51 Indigenous partners and organizations who had identified Indigenous learning for public servants as a priority during consultation and cooperation on the development of the UN Declaration Act Action Plan. These partners were diverse, including First Nations, Inuit and Métis rights holders from different regions, historic treaty partners, organizations representing different lived experiences and intersectional identities and national Indigenous organizations. Justice Canada introduced the work it was embarking on related to SP14 and 18 and sought to confirm whether partners were interested in contributing to implementation. This was done by email and in meetings with the assistance of the Justice UN Declaration Act Implementation Secretariat Consultation and Cooperation team from September 2024 to mid-March 2025. See Annex A for the list of Indigenous partners and organizations we met with or received written submissions from.

Justice Canada invited Indigenous partners to determine whether they wanted to provide input in meetings, in writing, or both. We participated in meetings with 26 Indigenous partners to establish relationships, share information and have substantive discussions on SP14. Limited discussion took place on SP18. Justice Canada provided existing training decks developed by Justice Canada and CIRNAC, as well as a thematic deck to guide discussions. While key questions were raised in most meetings, the process was open and flexible so people could raise additional issues and approach the discussion as they wished. Most meetings were held virtually, except for meetings that took place in person in Fredericton and Moncton, New Brunswick. We also received some written responses, either instead of or further to meetings. In some cases, multiple meetings were held with the same partner allowing for more fulsome input from Indigenous partners.

Some Indigenous partners and organizations indicated disappointment with the lack of funding being offered to provide feedback on training materials and did not participate. Some simply did not respond. Limited internal resourcing led to delays in Justice Canada reaching out to and following up with some Indigenous partners, which resulted in tighter timelines, less opportunity for meetings, and some concern that this was a box checking exercise rather than a meaningful and respectful attempt to consult and cooperate. We acknowledge these shortcomings within the process and recognize the importance of fostering long-term relationships based on mutual respect and improving initial communication with all potential partners.