Thank you, and good afternoon, everyone.
I just want to identify the position that I now hold to give you some context for my remarks. I am a professor of law at Allard Hall Law School at the University of British Columbia, and I am the director of the Indian Residential School Centre for History and Dialogue. In my background, I had 20 years as a judge in Saskatchewan, and 10 years as a child advocate in British Columbia, and I was a law professor before that.
I come to the committee today first of all acknowledging that we are on Algonquin territory.
It's a great honour to be here.
Out of respect to the committee, I have had a chance to follow your proceedings and to read them. I had a chance to attend and listen as well, so I'm not going to cover ground that's already been covered. You've held extensive hearings and have received a great deal of evidence, so I'm not going to go into a lot of arcane legal issues, although I want to be available to answer any questions you might have, either in session or, more generally, to be helpful.
My perspective is really as an indigenous person but also as a constitutional scholar, as a judge, and as an individual who works very closely with addressing the legacy of residential schools and supporting reconciliation to be effective. It's also from a very pragmatic viewpoint, since I have dealt with, just in the child welfare area, 17,000 cases and have worked extensively with indigenous children and families and trying to address some of the more structural issues.
From that perspective, I want to make one general comment and a few small comments, but I'm probably going to use less time.
My general comment is that the fundamental transformation that UNDRIP brought 10 years ago was 10 years ago, but it was very significant and has become very settled. It's widely accepted. It's used extensively by indigenous people and non-indigenous people, and it's extremely helpful. I see UNDRIP, at the most fundamental level, as recognizing indigenous rights as human rights. I believe that Bill C-262 will assist us to come closer to the point of being able to have genuine reconciliation. It's extremely positive. I don't see it as any way disruptive or threatening, knowing what I do about constitutional law, history, and how courts deal with matters. Our Constitution is based on peace, order, and good government. There are specific provisions in UNDRIP itself. All human rights have limits. It is not a radical, disruptive measure to adopt UNDRIP. It's, in fact, an incredibly helpful tool.
I will just say that in my practical work with children and families, as many of you will know, there have been some very significant rulings of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal dealing with indigenous children and disparities in funding. These matters are being actively worked on. The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, when it issued its fourth compliance order this year, specifically looked to the language of UNDRIP as being helpful in dealing with issues for children and families.
I bring that to you because I appreciate that not everyone works closely with these intergenerational issues of residential school survivors, and they don't always appreciate that it didn't end when the residential schools ended. The grossly disproportional number of indigenous children in care, the need for indigenous families to be heard and understood, and the need to have reconciliation in our provinces and our territories will be very positively impacted by federal adoption and support for UNDRIP at the highest level in legislation.
In its most recent compliance order—which I'm not going to read—the Canadian Human Rights Commission has two paragraphs, paragraphs 75 and 76, that adopt UNDRIP as an interpretive value to understanding what's going on with indigenous children and families. In particular, it talks about the fact that children have the right to be free from discrimination—highlighting articles 2, 7, and 22 of UNDRIP and, more importantly, article 8 and how we have to understand that forced assimilation doesn't work. Indeed, the doctrines of superiority that were part of the residential school process—and part, frankly, of the child welfare process, where indigenous families are judged and assessed as being inferior, and their children are easily removed—made it very challenging in Canada to be able to push back and have a more respectful space for those families. I say this as a person who has dealt with 17,000 child welfare cases as a child advocate.
What UNDRIP does is that it provide an interpretive lens that helps us to have a conversation and to understand what's happening, such as the forceful removal of children and the systemic issues. It is not a disruptive, unhelpful thing. It's extremely helpful, and it will be received in a legal context that is methodical, plodding, and clearly about limits and reasonableness.
I really am happy to answer any questions. I have noted in reviewing the proceedings to date and following the questions that there seems to be some difficulty, wherein people accept UNDRIP but have difficulty accepting that it should be in legislation. I certainly am of the view that there's no difference between accepting UNDRIP and the context of what the bill says within itself as legislation. It really is a seamless process; it presents no terrible threat.
I have also followed your discussions on FPIC. In the same context, I would say to you that I heard former attorney general Geoff Plant—a very experienced individual—say the other day that it's part of civil society to work together. It's part of civil society to engage.
Unfortunately, we haven't had the best terms of engagement. I note, however, from the Saskatchewan viewpoint, taking treaty land entitlement as an example, that when people do engage and work together, it's not just a matter of consent, but there are huge successes that occur. I've seen this happen, and it doesn't matter whether it's a Conservative, a Liberal, or an NDP government, or what have you.
I urge you to take a generous and appropriate approach to this bill, because it's a tool that will be immensely helpful even in provincial and territorial systems. It is not a threatening or menacing matter. I do not feel that we have to have the Oxford University approach whereby we define every problem and issue.
There are 600-plus first nations in Canada. They have the capacity to engage in self-determination and move forward. It will be a slow, methodical process, but it's one that will be aided by a positive respect for human rights, and it is part of responding to the legacy of residential schools.
I'm happy to answer questions. I want to end before my time to prove a point, and I don't want to repeat anything you've already heard.
I have high regard and respect for the work of this committee, but I want to tell you that there are many people on the ground—children and families—who rely on UNDRIP and its fundamental concepts to give meaning, inspiration, and affirmation that their human rights are taken very seriously in Canada.