Ottawa Accused Of “Cherry-Picking” On Human Rights
Thursday, June 03, 2010 at 13:10
A spokesman for Amnesty International says there could be a lot to lose if a human rights complaint against the federal government gets tossed out.
For the past day and a half, lawyers in Ottawa have been arguing about whether or not a human rights complaint over the funding of First Nations children in state care should move ahead.
Both the Assembly of First Nations and First Nations Child and Family Caring Society say the level of funding the federal government provides children who are in the care of child welfare agencies on-reserve is discriminatory.
They claim it’s about 22 per cent less than what a child off-reserve would get and they want that adjusted.
Amnesty International’s Craig Benjamin has been watching the case closely.
Benjamin says the federal government is essentially arguing that the Human Rights Act should not include any decision government makes about how much cash is poured into programs.
He says if Ottawa is successful, this would strip the Human Rights Act of some of its meaning — as well as create a huge legal loophole.
Benjamin says, two years ago, the government also argued it didn’t need to sign onto the UN declaration affirming the rights of Indigenous peoples because the Human Right Act was more effective.
He says it appears the government is “cherry-picking” when to use the Act.
Benjamin says he is not sure if the government will succeed in having the challenge tossed out — but if it is, he says it is something that is going to have to be challenged in court.