Indigenous Rights

UNDRIP Factsheet on Canada’s commitment to endorse the Declaration

November 3, 2010

Download the Factsheet (PDF) “The time is now for Canada to join the overwhelming majority of states that have endorsed the UN Declaration and who are establishing a practice of implementing this Declaration as an important international legal instrument.” This…

Post filed in: Indigenous Rights, UNDRIP Blog Updates

Humanized Globalization: Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples and Migrant Workers from Guatemala to Canada. A conversation with Bishop Ramazzini

October 28, 2010

“ This gathering is an expression of our desire to humanize globalization.  I want to thank you for that”. This is how Bishop Ramazzini from the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Marcos in Guatemala, began his talk to a group…

Post filed in: Indigenous Rights, Latin America, Migrant Justice

The Land Our Life

October 28, 2010

A reflection given in worship at the BC/Yukon Regional KAIROS meeting at Sorrento, BC, October 3, 2010, by Janet Gray Scriptural readings: Isaiah 11:1-9, Mark 10:17-22 —————————————- The Land we stand on is sacred ground. We acknowledge this territory is the land…

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Joint Statement on the movement of Sisters in Spirit Vigils

September 16, 2010

Aboriginal women and girls are facing the most pervasive human rights crisis in Canada today. The profound impact of violence experienced by Aboriginal women and girls in Canada has created a national tragedy. The disappearance and murder of our Aboriginal…

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Rights orgs support publication of UN report on human rights abuses

September 10, 2010

Human rights organizations in the DRC call on Congolese government to respond to report in an effort of true reconciliation fileadmin/fe/files/PDF/countires/congo/CongolaiseSurlLeRapportduProjetMapping-Eng.pdf

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Reflections on the Blanket Train

September 1, 2010

Sara Stratton Trinity St. Paul’s and Bloor Street United Churches For the last 18 months or so, the biggest part of my job with the Canadian Ecumenical Jubilee Initiative has been in the area of indigenous justice. Together with the…

Post filed in: Indigenous Rights, Spirited Reflections

Shooting of Guatemalan community leader opposing Canadian-owned mining project

July 23, 2010

KAIROS is deeply saddened and shocked to learn of the shooting of a community leader, Theodora Antonia Hernández Cinto, at her home in municipality of San Miguel Ixtahuacán in Guatemala.

Post filed in: Gender Justice/Women of Courage, Indigenous Rights, Latin America

Voices Unheard

June 28, 2010

June 28, 2010 Canada’s Indigenous peoples, threatened human rights workers in Congo and Colombia, HIV-infected mothers in Malawi, and Pacific Islanders whose homes and livelihoods are being destroyed by rising waters due to climate change —are among the strong articulate…

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The First National Event of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission

June 18, 2010

While Huntsville and Toronto gear up for the G8/G20, Winnipeg is hosting an event of comparable if not greater significance—the first National Event of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. For two days I have been at the forks of the…

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KAIROS commends new Amnesty International report revealing extent of oil and gas development on Lubicon Cree traditional territory

June 18, 2010

For decades, eleven churches and religious organizations have joined together in KAIROS to support the Lubicon Lake Cree in their struggle for recognition and justice.  In 2003, then-federal negotiator professor Bradford Morse said it was his intention to be the…

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KAIROS attending Truth and Reconciliation Commission national event in Winnipeg

June 16, 2010

KAIROS welcomes and honors the opening of the first national  event of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada and hopes that all Canadians will engage in this profound opportunity to renew our nation in truth, reconciliation and justice. KAIROS…

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Canada Should Embrace UN Declaration without Conditions or Qualifications

May 4, 2010

Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Ninth Session United Nations, New York 19-30 April 2010 Agenda item 5 Half-day discussion on North America April 22, 2010 Joint Statement by Assembly of First Nations; Inuit Circumpolar Council Canada; Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami; Native…

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Perspectives from the Global South

April 22, 2010

From April 19-22, 2010 close to 35 thousand people –Indigenous Peoples, NGOs, political leaders, and citizens from every continent – met in Cochabamba, Bolivia to come up with real solutions to climate change. The President of Bolivia, Evo Morales, called…

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Il faut protéger les droits des lubicons

April 6, 2010

« Ma grand-mère et ma mère ont leur sentier de piégeage où elles vont chasser et tendre leurs collets mais il est bien rare qu’elles rapportent du lièvre, de l’orignal, du chevreuil, du coq de bruyère ou même de l’ours……

Post filed in: En français, Indigenous Rights

Canada’s endorsement of the UN Declaration must be consistent with human rights

March 18, 2010

Indigenous Peoples and human rights and faith based organizations welcome the announcement in the Speech from the Throne that the Canadian government is taking steps to endorse the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. We urge the…

Post filed in: Indigenous Rights, UNDRIP Blog Updates

KAIROS and Amnesty International urge the governments of Canada and Alberta to recognize the Lubicon Cree First Nation’s land and resource rights

February 23, 2010

View PDF of KAIROS/Amnesty International Joint Statement Intense and large scale oil and gas exploitation on the traditional lands of the Lubicon Cree First Nation in northern Alberta began in the late seventies. The impact on the community has been…

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Reporting on the Gap: Comparing Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Canada

February 18, 2010

KAIROS Indigenous Peoples Project Coordinator Ed Bianchi presents this sobering report comparing the living standards of indigenous and non-indigenous peoples in Canada. View the PDF. For more information please contact: Ed Bianchi KAIROS Indigenous Rights Program Coordinator ebianchi@kairoscanada.org 613-235-9956 x221

Post filed in: Indigenous Rights

Human Rights Tribunal on discrimination against First Nations children delayed

January 27, 2010

Dear Friends. The January 19 hearing of the Canadian Human Rights Commission tribunal looking into discrimination against First Nations children by the federal government has been postponed until April 6. As the attached Toronto Star article explains, this is the…

Post filed in: Indigenous Rights

United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

January 26, 2010

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in an online book format.

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Gap report: Comparison between Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations in Canada

January 17, 2010

In 2004, the Secretary General Kofi Annan opened the third session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous issues stating, “For too long the hopes and aspirations of indigenous peoples have been ignored; their lands were seized; scorned or attacked…

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Indigenous Peoples and Oil and Gas Development

November 20, 2009

Policy Briefing Paper No.18

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KAIROS Briefing Paper #18: Indigenous Peoples and Oil and Gas Development Respecting Rights, Minimizing Risks, Maximizing Benefits

November 1, 2009

Oil and gas exploration and development has been driven to the doorsteps and backyards of Indigenous communities across Canada by society’s seemingly insatiable demand for nonrenewable fossil fuels. Historically, the societies and cultures of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples have been seriously damaged…

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KAIROS Briefing Paper #8: The Cerro de San Pedro Case: A Clarion Call for Binding Legislation of Canadian Corporate Activity Abroad

March 21, 2007

In March 2005,  at the request of Mexican human rights partners and the  Broad Opposition Front (FAO), a KAIROS church leaders delegation traveled to the community of Cerro de San Pedro, Mexico. The church leaders were the first Canadian delegation not…

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KAIROS Briefing Paper #5: Measuring the Federal Government’s Commitment to Aboriginal Rights

December 17, 2006

The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples has been under development for more than 20 years, making it one of the most intensely debated and carefully scrutinized human rights instruments in UN history. Uniquely, the primary beneficiaries of the Declaration,…

Post filed in: Indigenous Rights