José Francisco Calí Tzay, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, is making an official visit to Canada for the first time since his appointment in 2020. The 10-day trip starts in Ottawa and includes visits to Montreal, Winnipeg, Edmonton, and Vancouver before returning to Ottawa.
During the visit, Calí Tzay will examine a wide range of issues affecting First Nations, Inuit, and Métis, including the implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the right to self-determination, land, and resources, missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, unmarked burials associated with residential schools, language and culture, and free, prior and informed consent.
Calí Tzay will meet with government officials, national human rights institutions, and several Indigenous leaders, including representatives from the Assembly of First Nations, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, and the Métis National Council. He will share his preliminary findings and recommendations in Ottawa on March 10, and present his final report to the UN Human Rights Council in September 2023.
Kenneth Deer, a member of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy’s external relations committee, will be in attendance for a one-hour meeting with Calí Tzay on Thursday in Montreal. Deer will raise human rights issues such as Canada not fully recognizing the Haudenosaunee Confederacy as a government, missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, unmarked burials associated with former residential schools sites, and racism experienced in Quebec.
For Hailey Rose, co-chair of the AFN National Youth Council, the opportunity to meet with Calí Tzay will provide an important platform for First Nations youth. She hopes to discuss issues like language revitalization and for the special rapporteur to recognize their national and provincial regional priorities.
Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller will also meet with Calí Tzay. Miller’s office said that he will be “very interested in any report provided by the special rapporteur, and looks forward to his recommendations.”
The last official visit to Canada by a Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples occurred in 2013 with James Anaya. Calí Tzay will share his preliminary findings and recommendations in Ottawa on March 10, and present his final report to the UN Human Rights Council in September 2023.
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