Question Period Note: Response to United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination Letter on the Mi’kmaq of Nova Scotia

Response to United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination Letter on the Mi’kmaq of Nova Scotia

We take the allegations raised in the letter, including allegations of racist violence against the Mi’kmaq peoples in Nova Scotia, seriously.

The Department of Canadian Heritage is working diligently as it leads Canada’s response to the United Nations, which includes input from the Province of Nova Scotia and many federal departments, including my own.

As Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, I am committed to working with Indigenous communities to continue to implement their right to fish in pursuit of a moderate livelihood in a safe and peaceful manner.
We take the allegations raised in the letter, including allegations of racist violence against the Mi’kmaq peoples in Nova Scotia, seriously.

The Department of Canadian Heritage is working diligently as it leads Canada’s response to the United Nations, which includes input from the Province of Nova Scotia and many federal departments, including my own.

As Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, I am committed to working with Indigenous communities to continue to implement their right to fish in pursuit of a moderate livelihood in a safe and peaceful manner.

• On January 7, 2022 the Department of Canadian Heritage – as lead Department for UN CERD responses – confirmed that all federal departments and the Province of Nova Scotia provided input and approved the final proposed response to the UN CERD. PCH is targeting March 2, 2022 for the submission of the final response to Global Affairs, which will liaise with the UN CERD. PCH will notify all signatories upon submission.
• The Department and Canadian Heritage (PCH) have received media requests regarding the release of the response letter. However, discussions are ongoing between PCH, GAC, the Department of Justice, and the Mission in Geneva regarding proactively disclosing the response to stakeholders, which is not currently standard practice.
• On April 30, 2021, Canada received a letter from the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (UN CERD) sharing concerns raised with the Committee regarding allegations of violence against Mi’kmaq fishers in Nova Scotia that occurred in September to December 2020.
• This is the fourth letter Canada had received since 2018 from UN CERD. The Department of Canadian Heritage (PCH) is the lead on all UN CERD responses.
• A number of federal departments collaborated on the draft response, including Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs, Public Safety and the Department of Justice. PCH also consulted with the Province of Nova Scotia.
• The response was initially requested by July 14, 2021. However, PCH requested an extension through Global Affairs Canada due to the complexity of coordinating Canada’s response. The revised targeted deadline was September 2, 2021, but was delayed due to the election.
• The response letter provides background on the Peace and Friendship treaties of 1760 and 1761, and the Marshall decisions, including the federal response strategy and fulfilling the duty to consult. More broadly, the letter also outlines Canada’s attempt to combat racist hate speech and incitement to violence through effective investigations of cases of racist hate crimes, including measures to facilitate reporting by the victims, and prosecute and sanction perpetrators.
• In response to specific concerns raised by the UN CERD, the letter addresses the events of October 2020 in Nova Scotia, including the measures taken to investigate alleged acts of racist hate speech, violence and incitement to violence, and the destruction of property by private actors against Mi’kmaw Indigenous peoples. Canada also describes the measures taken to respect, protect and guarantee Mi’kmaw peoples’ rights to fishing activities and to be consulted.

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