Canada must strengthen its mechanisms for the domestic implementation of civil and political rights

Submission to the United Nations Human Rights Committee concerning Canada’s mechanisms for implementation of international civil and political rights in Canada

Despite Canada’s commitment to the domestic implementation of human rights, there are persistent weaknesses in Canada’s mechanisms for human‑rights implementation that undermine the protection of civil and political rights.

This is not a new finding. For decades, UN treaty bodies have repeatedly urged Canada to address these structural challenges, with little to show for it. The reality is that for 75 years Canada has lacked the political will to institutionalize human rights implementation. It has neglected to build the necessary legal foundations and government structures to provide accountability to rights holders.

Civil society organizations cannot stand by as another generation of Canadian governments refuses to take their domestic human rights obligations seriously.

The submission offers specific recommendations for fundamental reform and has been endorsed by:

• Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights
• Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies
• Charter Committee on Poverty Issues
• Feminist Alliance for International Action
• International Human Rights Law Clinic, University of Manitoba
• John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights
• National Right to Housing Network
• Ontario Native Women’s Association (ONWA)
• Righting Relations
• Social Rights Advocacy Centre
• South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario

Recommendations

We urge the Human Rights Council to make the following recommendations to strengthen Canada’s mechanisms for the domestic implementation of civil and political rights. All recommendations should go to the Forum of Ministers Responsible on Human Rights for immediate action.

1. Establish a national framework for international human rights implemen­tation that defines how human rights obligations are shared across federal, provincial, territorial, municipal, and Indigenous governments in Canada.
2. Establish permanent, funded secretariats across all levels of government to support the NMIRF and all obligations under the national framework.
3. Pass legislation at the national and sub-national levels to enshrine in law Canada’s NMIRF and national framework for international human rights implementation.
4. Publish implementation plans across levels of government in response to recom­mendations received from UN treaty bodies and report publicly on progress.
5. Adopt the UN’s National Recommendations Tracking Database.
6. Adopt a set of national human rights outcome indicators and an accompanying data strategy, including disaggregated demographic information.
7. Invest in capacity building across levels of government, including training public officials on human rights obligations.
8. Establish a national human rights engagement framework, co-developed with civil society, Indigenous organizations, and others.
9. Offer permanent funding to support civil society and Indigenous engagement in human rights implementation across Canada.
10. Ensure access to justice and effective remedies for Covenant rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and other domestic law.

We also echo the 2023 recommendation of the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and Call for Justice 1.7 of the National Inquiry into MMIWG to set up an independent Indigenous-led human rights mechanism.