Submission to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on the occasion of its consideration of Canada’s 21st – 23rd Periodic Reports

Submission to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on the occasion of its consideration of Canada’s 21st – 23rd Periodic Reports Human Rights Canadian Human Rights Commission Submission to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on the occasion of its consideration of Canada’s 21st – 23rd Periodic Reports July 2017 © His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, a. [...] It is committed to working with the Government of Canada to ensure continued progress in the protection of human rights, including Canada’s implementation of the rights and obligations enshrined in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD). [...] Further, as it relates to the use of the term “visible minorities”, the CHRC recognizes that this term may not be appropriate, and that the use of the umbrella category of visible minorities may obscure the realities and specific concerns of sub- groups. [...] The CHRC also wishes to draw the Committee’s attention to the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC), Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future.11 The TRC was created by the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement to examine the history and legacy of the residential schools 10 The term “Indigenous” or “Indigenous peoples” is used throughout this submi. [...] For example, the Final Report of the TRC includes amongst its recommendations the following: - that the Federation of Law Societies of Canada and all law schools ensure that lawyers receive appropriate cultural competency training, including on the history and legacy of residential schools, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Treaties and Aboriginal rights, Indigeno.