Faith groups work together to support Indigenous rights

The All My Relations Working Group is asking Ottawa Anglicans to express their support for Bill C-15, legislation to implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), tabled in Parliament on Dec. 3, 2020.

Archbishop Linda Nicholls, Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, and Archbishop Mark MacDonald, National Indigenous Anglican Archbishop, as well as the Anglican Council of Indigenous Peoples, were among many faith leaders who signed a letter of support for the bill sent to Minister of Justice David Lametti. 

AMR co-chair Debbie Grisdale told Crosstalk that the 2015 report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission states that UNDRIP “is the framework for reconciliation at all levels and across all sectors of Canadian society.” Bill C-15 calls for a national action plan and to bring Canadian laws into line with that framework. The Primate’s welcomed support for this bill reinforces the words of her predecessor, retired Archbishop Fred Hiltz, who said in 2016 that when endorsing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, “we have a call to let our ‘yes’ in that historic moment be a resounding and continuing ‘yes.’”

Irene Barbeau, an Indigenous member of the AMR Working Group, explained that Bill C-15 is a follow-up to Bill C-262,  a private member’s bill introduced by NDP MP Romeo Saganash, which died when Conservative efforts to prevent a third and final reading in the Senate succeeded in 2019. Barbeau had been part of a delegation that visited senators asking them to support C-262.  “One of the measures of Bill C-15 is for an action plan  “to address injustices, combat prejudice and eliminate all forms of violence and discrimination against Indigenous peoples, including elders, youth, children, women, men, persons with disabilities, and gender-divers and two-spirit persons.”  Who would not support a bill of this magnitude especially involving Indigenous people across Canada?” Barbeau asked. “I fully support Bill C-15 as this affects me as an Indigenous person.”

The letter of support, signed by leaders of a diverse collection of faith groups including the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, Quakers, two Baptist Churches, Christian Reform, the Jesuit Society of Canada, KAIROS, and the Mennonite Central Committee Canada, also thanked the government for building on Bill C-262, adding “critical elements, including references to systemic discrimination, sustainable development, climate change, and the Calls for Justice from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.” They urged the government to prioritize Bill C-15 through the legislative process to ensure it receives Royal Assent before the next election. 

For more information, see the Faith in the Declaration website: faithinthedeclaration.ca

The Mennonite Central Committee website offers a sample letter that people can use to contact their MP or members of the government on its website.  

https://mcccanada.ca/get-involved/advocacy/takeaction/10