CORNWALL, Ontario – Cornwall City Council passed two resolutions on Monday night to recognize the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation and to adopt the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
On June 3 the Parliament of Canada passed Bill C-5 making Sept. 30 National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, a statutory holiday.
Earlier in September, Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced that the province would not be recognizing the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation as a statutory holiday, but some Ontario municipalities have elected to do so on their own.
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Municipalities such as South Stormont have announced that their municipal offices would be closed on Sept. 30 to mark the occasion. While Cornwall did pass a motion to recognize the day on Sept. 30, no wording in the motion indicates that any municipal offices in the City of Cornwall would be closed that day.
In the spirit of that motion to recognize Sept. 30, councillors Elaine MacDonald and Justin Towndale put forward a motion to adopt the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).
UNDRIP was adopted in 2007 by all UN member nations with the exception of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States; all four of those nations have since adopted UNDRIP with Canada adopting it in 2015.
UNDRIP enshrines certain rights for Indigenous people’s as outlined below:
The Declaration addresses both individual and collective rights, cultural rights and identity, rights to education, health, employment, language, and others. The text says indigenous peoples have the right to fully enjoy as a collective or as individuals, all human rights and fundamental freedoms as recognized in the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the rest of international human rights law. Indigenous peoples and individuals are free and equal to all other peoples and individuals and have the right to be free from any kind of discrimination, in the exercise of their rights, in particular that based on their indigenous origin or identity. Indigenous peoples have the right to self-determination. By that right they can freely determine their political status and pursue their economic, social and cultural development. They have the right to maintain and strengthen their distinct political, legal, economic, social and cultural institutions, while retaining their rights to participate fully, if they choose to, in the political, economic, social and cultural life of the state. –UNDRIP FAQ sheet
“This report came out years ago and there hasn’t been much action at higher levels of government . . . but locally we can do something,” said Towndale. “I think this is an important step to solidify our relationship with the Mohawk people’s of Akwesasne.”
The exact wording of the motion put forward by MacDonald and Towndale is below:
Whereas in December of 2015, the federal government committed all of Canada, every level of government and all sectors of society to accept the Truth and Reconciliation Report and implement the 94 Calls to Action,
Whereas September 30 has been proclaimed the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation,
Whereas the first principle of the Truth and Reconciliation Report confrims that the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) is the framework for reconciliation for all sectors of Canadian society,
Whereas since 2015, responses to the calls to action have been only incrementally implemented across Canada and at various levels of government and sectors of society,
Whereas some Canadian municipalities have formally adopted the UNDRIP as a demonstration of their commitment to the Ten Principles of Reconciliation and their acceptance of the 94 Calls to Action,
Therefore, be it resolved that the city of Cornwall formally adopt the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in recognition of its centrality of UNDRIP to the entire Truth and Reconciliation document and as evidence of our municipality’s intention to undertake and affirm the process of reconciliation to which we are called in the Truth and Reconciliation Report.
Both motions were passed unanimously by Council.
