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Press Release
(Vancouver, Coast Salish Territory, December 30, 2009) The defenders support the activists who oppose the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver because of Canada’s terrible human rights record regarding indigenous peoples in Canada.
The “defenders of the land” finished their 2nd national annual gathering in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on November 27, 28 & 29, 2009. The first national gathering happened in Winnipeg, Manitoba, last year in November 2008. The defenders consist of indigenous based activists from across Canada. The purpose of the defenders is to maintain contact and solidarity between indigenous peoples who are struggling to defend their indigenous sovereign territories from governments and business efforts that want to destroy the environment their peoples depend on.
The defenders national gathering had attendance and participation from activists from across Canada. The defenders were welcomed by Elder Delbert Guerin from Musqueam who spoke to the national audience about his experience in bringing forward what is now known at the international level as the Guerin Case. The Guerin was the first case where the federal government was found to have legal duties to indigenous peoples.
The focus of this gathering was to establish more formal processes of the defenders to work together in cases of emergency when peaceful demonstrations are being attacked by the lack of federal and provincial government recognition of Aboriginal and Treaty Rights. The defenders are also planning to work together in taking national based action to put pressure on Canada to recognize Aboriginal and Treaty Rights.
The defenders will promote indigenous sovereignty of their Aboriginal and Treaty territories at the international level. The defenders include making Canada adopt the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as the minimum standard of all federal and provincial laws and policies regarding Aboriginal and Treaty Rights. Canada along with the United States, New Zealand and Australia voted against the Declaration despite 131 state governments who voted in favour of the Declaration. Australia is going to change their position and adopt the Declaration.
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