Canada opposes UN bill opposing glorification of Nazism

Last Friday, Canada along with the U.S. opposed a resolution that was meant to combat glorification of Nazism. The only other country to vote against the resolution was Ukraine.

The resolution was put forward by Russia and a number of other countries. The entire resolution can be viewed here. Part of the resolution claims to be for “combating glorification of Nazism, neo-nazism and other practices that contribute to fuelling contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.” There were 55 abstentions including many EU countries. This Lithuanian source explains some of the reasoning behind some of the abstentions. There were 115 countries in favor of the resolution including India, Iran, but also Israel.
 While the Russian motion was no doubt in part motivated by its claims that far-right neo-Nazi groups were powerful actors in the new Ukrainian government, it is surprising to me that the US and Canada voted against the bill. It seems purely a political move designed to try and discredit the Russian motion. What it does is discredit those who voted against the motion. Narrow as the motion is, it still expresses positions that both Canada, the United States, and the Ukraine actually all support. The Ukrainian vote is particularly significant since it suggests that approving the resolution would alienate the very right-wing neo-Nazi groups that the motion is directed against. Ukraine therefore voted against the motion to avoid alienating these groups. No doubt Russia hoped for just such a result. The US and Canada apparently will do anything that would irritate Russia.
Even Israel voted for the resolution parting company with its big supporter the United States. The Ukraine objected to the resolution because the country also suffered under Stalinism and felt that passing the resolution would minimize that suffering. This seems a bit bizarre. One cannot resolve to oppose one evil because others are not mentioned. The Canadian objection has a family resemblance to that of the Ukraine but is much more bizarre: But Canada objected because the resolution has a “narrow focus” and it draws on the controversial declarations of the 2009 World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa, which Canada regards as anti-Semitic. Surely Canada should support a resolution that combats attempts to glorify Nazism even if the focus is narrow. Given that the content of the resolution opposes Nazism, how is it anti-Semitic? Canada claims it voted against the resolution because it is anti-semitic. How is it Israel did not vote against it? Maybe Obama told Harper how Canada should vote. Usually Canada supports the Israeli position.
The Jerusalem Post has an interesting comment by Dr. Efraim Zuroff, head of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Jerusalem:“There is a very strong tendency in post-Communist Europe to try to rewrite the narrative of World War II and the Holocaust and to try and minimize crimes by local Nazi collaborators, to equate Communist crimes and suffering of Communist victims with Nazi crimes during the Shoah and to glorify local heroes who fought against the Communists even though some of them were actively involved in collaboration with the Nazis and mass murder of Jews during the Holocaust." Zuroff claims that many former Soviet countries, have tried to rewrite history with the Ukraine being among " the worst of them". The appended video also discusses aspects of the situation described by Zuroff.
Germany abstained from the resolution. This is somewhat surprising given that Germany is usually anxious to ensure other countries understand it rejects its Nazi past. Other countries such as Britain and France who suffered at the hands of the Nazis also abstained. The Russians, not surprisingly, expressed regret that not all countries supported the resolution. A Russian Foreign Ministry statement said: "The fact that the US, Canada and Ukraine voted against, while delegations from EU member states abstained in the vote on this draft resolution, which was supported by an overwhelming majority of the UN member states, is extremely regrettable...Ukraine’s position is particularly dispiriting and alarming. One can hardly understand how a country, the people of which suffered their full share of the horrors of Nazism and contributed significantly to our common victory against it, can vote against a resolution condemning its glorification."

NDP response to UN report on homelessness in Canada

This is from the NDP website. There did not seem to be a link to the report. Notice that it was the Liberal govt. that cut out a lot of the housing programs.

NDP response to United Nations report on homelessness in Canada
“United Nations Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing Miloon Kothari delivered his preliminary report on homelessness in Canada. Kothari stated that he was “very disturbed by the housing situation in Canada” and that he hoped to see “a radical shift in government policy” after the Liberals’ decisions “summarily abandoned” Canada’s positive record on housing.

“Mr. Kothari is right to be disturbed about homelessness and housing affordability in Canada. The Conservatives have no action plan to build affordable housing. The housing situation for First Nations is appalling. People who live with addictions or mental illness lack decent, safe, secure homes. And while emergency shelter funding is necessary, it is not the answer because an emergency shelter is not a home.

“There should not be 20 people living in a house intended for four people. No one should live in a home that is toxic because of mould or asbestos contamination. It is time for the Harper Conservatives to work in partnership with Aboriginal people to develop and implement a housing program with an adequate budget to address the Aboriginal housing crisis in Canada. Housing is and should be a human right.

“Ensuring affordable housing for all Canadians will help close the prosperity gap between the rich and everyone else. And it will save tax dollars in the long run, given the extremely high social costs of homelessness.”

Bill Siksay
NDP Housing critic (Burnaby-Douglas)

Jean Crowder

Aboriginal Women protest Canadian refusal to sign UN declaration

I hate articles such as this that do not say why Canada did not sign the declaration. I assume it has to do with aboriginal land claims, that the government does not want to provide any ammunition for negotiators on the aboriginal side. Imagine even the US signed the document. Harper is siding with Russia and not with the US, that must be a first!

Aboriginal women protest Ottawa's refusal to back UN declaration
Last Updated: Friday, July 13, 2007 | 5:03 PM ET
CBC News
Aboriginal women from across North and South America marched through the Kahnawake reserve south of Montreal on Friday to protest against Ottawa's refusal to adopt the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

About 40 women took part in the march following the Fifth Continental Meeting of Indigenous Women of the Americas, which was held this week in the Mohawk reserve.

Hosted by Quebec Native Women Inc., with support from the group Rights and Democracy, the meeting brought together more than 250 women from 17 countries, including Chile, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Nicaragua, Venezuela, the United States and Canada.

Rights and Democracy spokeswoman Marie Léger said the march was meant to send a message to the federal government.

"The indigenous women say, 'We are in Canada. Canada is not supporting the declaration. We really call upon Canada to change its position and support the declaration, because it is very meaningful."

Ellen Gabriel, president of Quebec Native Women, said Canada presents itself as a defender of human rights, but it's not living up to that reputation. "It's kind of hypocritical of Canada not to support this declaration," she said.



Meeting delegates said Canada's Conservative government erred when it announced it would not support the UN declaration, which upholds aboriginal peoples' land rights and ways of life.

The previous Liberal government had endorsed the declaration but Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government backed away from the UN document.

Only one other country, Russia, has refused to support it at the Human Righ

UN panel queries Canada over racial profiling in Arar case

This topic is probably beneath the radar of mainstream press. No one who was responsible for the profiling in the erroneous info shared with the US was ever punished. In fact some involved have been promoted. The whole matter seems forgotten.





Feb. 19, 2007 18:51
UN panel queries Canada over racial profiling
By ASSOCIATED PRESS


A United Nations anti-racism panel wants to know if Canada can ensure that it will avoid repeating the mistakes that led to the US deportation of a Syrian-born Canadian to Damascus, where he was tortured and imprisoned for nearly a year.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologized last month for Ottawa's role in the ordeal of Maher Arar - one of the best-known cases of so-called "extraordinary rendition" in which the US transfers foreign terror suspects without court approval to third countries for interrogation.

But the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has asked what steps Canada has taken since on new guidelines for information sharing and monitoring of security probes, so that forces "have clear policies and more training on issues of racial, religious and ethnic profiling."

The committee - a panel of 18 independent experts overseeing compliance with the United Nations' 38-year-old anti-racism treaty - will hear Wednesday from Canadian officials as part of its quadrennial review.