Mr. Speaker, world leaders came together 70 years ago today to sign the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and to enshrine it in international law.
Canadians through these decades have advanced human rights around the world, including one of the drafters of the declaration, John Peters Humphrey. In Canada, our Charter of Rights and Freedoms was inspired by the Universal Declaration, and our courts routinely invoke it.
Despite these advances, human rights continue to be violated routinely across the world and human rights defenders are often the first line of attack. Let us remember and honour these heroes today.
Much work remains to be done in order to attain human rights for all and to ensure that the key principles of the Universal Declaration are a reality. This year, our Parliament adopted the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities.
On this human rights day, let us recommit to working toward a just society where human rights are universal, inalienable, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated.