1. Justice Canada’s Opening Remarks

APPA’s Study on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act Implementation

February 2024

Before I begin, I would like to acknowledge that the land on which we gather is the traditional territory of the Algonquin Anishnaabeg people.

I am Jean-François Fortin, Associate Deputy Minister at Justice Canada, and it is my pleasure to be with you today to provide an update on implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act.

The Act, which came into force on June 21, 2021, creates a lasting, whole of government framework to advance federal implementation of the UN Declaration.

Key to this Act are obligations to work in consultation and cooperation with Indigenous peoples to align federal laws with the Declaration, develop and implement an action plan to achieve the Declaration’s objectives and report annually to Parliament on progress.

I will use these remarks to highlight some of the key progress we have made in implementing these obligations, while also acknowledging from the outset that this is long-term, generational work that will require sustained effort for many years to come.

1) UN Declaration and consistency of laws – guidance and training

Since 2021, Justice Canada has been working to raise awareness across Government about the UN Declaration, the Act and more recently the Action Plan. This includes providing training and tools to support officials in their work, wherever possible, in cooperation with Indigenous peoples.

For example, Justice Canada, in collaboration with the Canada School of Public Service and Indigenous experts, has held UN Declaration Act training sessions in 2022 and 2023, engaging over 4,000 officials.

These efforts are key to equip officials to think about whether and how their work intersects with the Declaration and to identify where and when consultation and cooperation with Indigenous peoples is needed as part of ensuring that federal laws are consistent with the Declaration.

Within Justice, guidance tools to assist officials in assessing consistency with the Declaration and compliance with the Act are being used to inform the development of departmental legislative initiatives that impact the rights of Indigenous peoples.

2) Public awareness on the UN Declaration

It is also important that Canadians learn about the UN Declaration and the actions being taken at the federal level to implement the UN Declaration Act since we all have a role to play in better understanding the reality and challenges faced by First Nations, Inuit and Métis.

To this end, we have developed a comprehensive website, including relevant information, educational videos and translations of the UN Declaration in 14 Indigenous languages.

Moving forward, we are committed to working in consultation and cooperation with Indigenous peoples on the development of further public awareness material.

3) UNDA Action Plan

Another significant stride made since 2021 is the launch of the UNDA Action Plan on National Indigenous Peoples Day last year. This Action Plan was the result of two years of working in consultation and cooperation with Indigenous peoples from across Canada to develop a distinctions-based roadmap of actions to implement the UN Declaration.

The Action Plan outlines 181 measures relating to a wide range of priority areas, like: establishing adequate oversight and accountability mechanisms; advancing self-determination, upholding modern and historic treaties and enhancing participation of Indigenous peoples in the economy and in decision-making processes.

Justice Canada leads on a number of these measures, including developing an Indigenous Justice Strategy and introducing Bill S-13, and coordinates the efforts of more than 25 departments and agencies implicated by the Action Plan.

As this Plan is intended to be implemented over several years, different measures are at different stages of implementation and will proceed at different rates. Together, my colleagues and I before you today are leading over 60% of these measures and will be pleased to share key areas of progress since the release of the Action Plan.

By way of more personal reflection, since the Action Plan was released, I have heard many officials talking about how inspired they are by these goals. I firmly believe that the conversations the Action Plan has sparked – as well as the path forward it lays out – are having a very positive impact on the federal public service and our relationships with Indigenous peoples.

All that said, the Action Plan is very ambitious, and we are all very well aware that there is still much left to do.

4) Working with Indigenous peoples and reporting on progress

All of our work needs to be done in partnership with Indigenous peoples. [As illustrated on the document we shared with this Committee/To this end], we have been working to leverage existing tables with First Nations, Inuit and Métis as well as setting up new ones on a regional basis. We’d be happy to provide you with additional information about these opportunities for cooperative work to advance implementation – as well as how we’re bringing a diversity lens to this work.

The Act also requires us to report annually and be transparent about our work. Justice Canada is already working to pull together information about progress for our next Annual Report to be tabled in Summer 2024, which will be a very important as it will begin to track progress against the Action Plan, as well as the Act itself.

In closing, we look forward to the results of this Committee’s study contributing to generating additional dialogue about practical strategies for implementation of the core rights and principles set out in the UN Declaration.

We will be pleased to respond to questions and will listen carefully to what you hear from others, guided always by the overarching goal of building a better, more equitable future for Indigenous peoples and, in doing so, a more inclusive Canada for this and future generations.

Thank you.