Post by achebeautiful on Mar 9, 2007 16:32:23 GMT -5
U.N. panel slams Canada for treatment of aboriginals
GENEVA (Reuters) - Canada needs to improve social services for its aboriginal population, particularly native women who face persistent and marked inequalities, a United Nations panel said on Friday.
The U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination found there was a "lack of substantial progress" in addressing discrimination against native communities within the officially multicultural country.
"The committee remains concerned at the extent of the dramatic inequality in living standards still experienced by aboriginal peoples," it said in a statement.
Stressing that native women make up "a disproportionate number of victims of violent death, rape and domestic violence," it recommended Ottawa improve services, including shelters and counseling, for victims of gender-based violence.
Canada's 1.3 million aboriginal residents make up about 4.4 percent of the population. Many live in abject poverty and their plight is a persistent embarrassment to what is one of the world's most advanced countries.
In Ottawa, the Conservative government blamed the previous Liberal administration, saying it had done little to help aboriginals when in power from 1993 to early 2006.
"For 13 years the Liberals paid lip service to aboriginals ... this (report reflects) an accumulation of years and years of blatant disregard for aboriginal issues," said Deirdra McCracken, a spokeswoman for Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice.
She said the Conservatives were committed to boosting the rights of aboriginal women and children as well as tackling the problem of contaminated water on native Indian reserves.
The U.N. committee periodically reviews all signatory states to the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination.
GENEVA (Reuters) - Canada needs to improve social services for its aboriginal population, particularly native women who face persistent and marked inequalities, a United Nations panel said on Friday.
The U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination found there was a "lack of substantial progress" in addressing discrimination against native communities within the officially multicultural country.
"The committee remains concerned at the extent of the dramatic inequality in living standards still experienced by aboriginal peoples," it said in a statement.
Stressing that native women make up "a disproportionate number of victims of violent death, rape and domestic violence," it recommended Ottawa improve services, including shelters and counseling, for victims of gender-based violence.
Canada's 1.3 million aboriginal residents make up about 4.4 percent of the population. Many live in abject poverty and their plight is a persistent embarrassment to what is one of the world's most advanced countries.
In Ottawa, the Conservative government blamed the previous Liberal administration, saying it had done little to help aboriginals when in power from 1993 to early 2006.
"For 13 years the Liberals paid lip service to aboriginals ... this (report reflects) an accumulation of years and years of blatant disregard for aboriginal issues," said Deirdra McCracken, a spokeswoman for Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice.
She said the Conservatives were committed to boosting the rights of aboriginal women and children as well as tackling the problem of contaminated water on native Indian reserves.
The U.N. committee periodically reviews all signatory states to the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination.