Canadian Race Relations Foundation

This is the August 2002 brief prepared by KAIROS for the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD). KAIROS touches on the fact that Canada's commitments to address recommendations made by the CERD and the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP), with regards to Aboriginal land claims and self-government are detrimental to positive, and steady negotiations. The brief describes how federal legislation and policies, including Bill C-60, Bill C-61 and the Comprehensive Land Claims Policy are paternalistic in nature. KAIROS indicates that these specific policies and legislative initiatives serve to deter Aboriginal peoples rights to land claims and to self-government. These deterrents work to further displace and marginalize Aboriginal peoples. In turn, KAIROS proposes key questions to  the Canadian government, in addition to their suggested recommendations.