I write this article for Universal Children’s Day, November 20th, first proclaimed by the United Nations in 1954. This is a day that Canada recognizes and is known to celebrate, yet at the same time practices hypocrisy against Indigenous mothers and their children.
For centuries Canada has been manipulating laws and policies in their goal of eliminating their treaty responsibilities to Indigenous Nations. Canada has been doing this through several processes such as refusing to honour the nation-to-nation relationships established during the historic treaty process which assured the equal sharing of land and resources between settlers and Indigenous people. Canada has also been eliminating their treaty responsibilities through the unilateral construction of land claims and self-government polices that terminate Indigenous people’s rights rather than recognizing them in a manner that provides for viable self-government.
What is more, Canada has enacted and continues amend the Indian Act in ways that is coded, both explicitly and through carefully crafted silence, with sex discrimination, and through this process eliminates the number of Indigenous people entitled to treaty rights. In its most recent incarnation the current Indian Act, and subsequent Aboriginal Affairs’ unstated paternity policy, discriminates against babies whose fathers’ signatures are not on their birth certificate. In these situations Canada assumes the father is a non-Indian where as a result many Indigenous children are being denied their nationality, First Nation band membership, First Nation citizenship, and their treaty rights such as a right to housing, health care, and education. What is particularly deplorable is that Canada does this despite the fact that Indigenous women experience a high rate of sexual violence such as incest, rape, gang rape, prostitution, and sexual slavery.
Canada relies on this unstated paternity policy even though section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which came into effect over 30 years ago and states, “Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in particular, without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability.” In addition, Canada discriminates in this way while section 35 of Canada’s Constitution recognizes and affirms Indigenous treaty rights.
Given that Canada’s unstated paternity policy violates the Charter and the Constitution it should come as little surprise to learn that with this policy that denies children, Canada also violates several international conventions and declarations. To help the reader digest these international instruments I offer a numbered list here.
1. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations December 1948:
· Article 25(2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.
2. The Declaration of the Rights of the Child, adopted by the United Nations December 1959:
· Principle 3 The child shall be entitled from his birth to a name and a nationality.
· Principle 4 The child shall enjoy the benefits of social security. He shall be entitled to grow and develop in health; to this end, special care and protection shall be provided both to him and to his mother, including adequate pre-natal and post-natal care. The child shall have the right to adequate nutrition, housing, recreation and medical services.
· Principle 10 The child shall be protected from practices which may foster racial, religious and any other form of discrimination. He shall be brought up in a spirit of understanding, tolerance, friendship among peoples, peace and universal brotherhood, and in full consciousness that his energy and talents should be devoted to the service of his fellow men.
3. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, adopted December 1966:
· Article 27 In those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities exist, persons belonging to such minorities shall not be denied the right, in community with the other members of their group, to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practise their own religion, or to use their own language.
4. The Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted by the United Nations November 1989:
· Article 8 (1) States Parties undertake to respect the right of the child to preserve his or her identity, including nationality, name and family relations as recognized by law without unlawful interference; (2) Where a child is illegally deprived of some or all of the elements of his or her identity, States Parties shall provide appropriate assistance and protection, with a view to re-establishing speedily his or her identity.
· Article 30 In those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities or persons of indigenous origin exist, a child belonging to such a minority or who is indigenous shall not be denied the right, in community with other members of his or her group, to enjoy his or her own culture, to profess and practise his or her own religion, or to use his or her own language.
5. The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, adopted by the United Nations September 2007:
· Article 33 (1) Indigenous peoples have the right to determine their own identity or membership in accordance with their customs and traditions. This does not impair the right of indigenous individuals to obtain citizenship of the States in which they live; (2) Indigenous peoples have the right to determine the structures and to select the membership of their institutions in accordance with their own procedures.
6. The Convention on the Prevention and the Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, adopted by the United Nations December 1948 includes in its definition of genocide:
· Article 2 (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
We all need to hold Canada to a higher standard. Please help me serve Indigenous children. Become more aware, talk with other people, read my work and sign my petition at www.lynngehl.com.
For centuries Canada has been manipulating laws and policies in their goal of eliminating their treaty responsibilities to Indigenous Nations. Canada has been doing this through several processes such as refusing to honour the nation-to-nation relationships established during the historic treaty process which assured the equal sharing of land and resources between settlers and Indigenous people. Canada has also been eliminating their treaty responsibilities through the unilateral construction of land claims and self-government polices that terminate Indigenous people’s rights rather than recognizing them in a manner that provides for viable self-government.
What is more, Canada has enacted and continues amend the Indian Act in ways that is coded, both explicitly and through carefully crafted silence, with sex discrimination, and through this process eliminates the number of Indigenous people entitled to treaty rights. In its most recent incarnation the current Indian Act, and subsequent Aboriginal Affairs’ unstated paternity policy, discriminates against babies whose fathers’ signatures are not on their birth certificate. In these situations Canada assumes the father is a non-Indian where as a result many Indigenous children are being denied their nationality, First Nation band membership, First Nation citizenship, and their treaty rights such as a right to housing, health care, and education. What is particularly deplorable is that Canada does this despite the fact that Indigenous women experience a high rate of sexual violence such as incest, rape, gang rape, prostitution, and sexual slavery.
Canada relies on this unstated paternity policy even though section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which came into effect over 30 years ago and states, “Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in particular, without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability.” In addition, Canada discriminates in this way while section 35 of Canada’s Constitution recognizes and affirms Indigenous treaty rights.
Given that Canada’s unstated paternity policy violates the Charter and the Constitution it should come as little surprise to learn that with this policy that denies children, Canada also violates several international conventions and declarations. To help the reader digest these international instruments I offer a numbered list here.
1. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations December 1948:
· Article 25(2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.
2. The Declaration of the Rights of the Child, adopted by the United Nations December 1959:
· Principle 3 The child shall be entitled from his birth to a name and a nationality.
· Principle 4 The child shall enjoy the benefits of social security. He shall be entitled to grow and develop in health; to this end, special care and protection shall be provided both to him and to his mother, including adequate pre-natal and post-natal care. The child shall have the right to adequate nutrition, housing, recreation and medical services.
· Principle 10 The child shall be protected from practices which may foster racial, religious and any other form of discrimination. He shall be brought up in a spirit of understanding, tolerance, friendship among peoples, peace and universal brotherhood, and in full consciousness that his energy and talents should be devoted to the service of his fellow men.
3. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, adopted December 1966:
· Article 27 In those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities exist, persons belonging to such minorities shall not be denied the right, in community with the other members of their group, to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practise their own religion, or to use their own language.
4. The Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted by the United Nations November 1989:
· Article 8 (1) States Parties undertake to respect the right of the child to preserve his or her identity, including nationality, name and family relations as recognized by law without unlawful interference; (2) Where a child is illegally deprived of some or all of the elements of his or her identity, States Parties shall provide appropriate assistance and protection, with a view to re-establishing speedily his or her identity.
· Article 30 In those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities or persons of indigenous origin exist, a child belonging to such a minority or who is indigenous shall not be denied the right, in community with other members of his or her group, to enjoy his or her own culture, to profess and practise his or her own religion, or to use his or her own language.
5. The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, adopted by the United Nations September 2007:
· Article 33 (1) Indigenous peoples have the right to determine their own identity or membership in accordance with their customs and traditions. This does not impair the right of indigenous individuals to obtain citizenship of the States in which they live; (2) Indigenous peoples have the right to determine the structures and to select the membership of their institutions in accordance with their own procedures.
6. The Convention on the Prevention and the Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, adopted by the United Nations December 1948 includes in its definition of genocide:
· Article 2 (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
We all need to hold Canada to a higher standard. Please help me serve Indigenous children. Become more aware, talk with other people, read my work and sign my petition at www.lynngehl.com.
Dr. Lynn Gehl is an Algonquin Anishinaabe-kwe from the Ottawa River Valley. She has a section 15 Charter challenge regarding the continued sex discrimination in The Indian Act, she is an outspoken critic of the Ontario Algonquin land claims and self-government process, and she recently published a book titled Anishinaabeg Stories: Featuring Petroglyphs, Petrographs, and Wampum Belts. You can reach her at lynngehl@gmail.com and see more of her work at www.lynngehl.com.
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