OTTAWA - Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice has challenged former Liberal prime minister Paul Martin to prove that his defeated government supported a United Nations declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples. He is refusing to take Martin's word for it.
In a letter branding Martin as "irresponsible and hypocritical," Prentice questions Martin's assertion that the former Liberal government was poised to endorse a UN declaration that is opposed by the current Conservative government.
"If Mr. Martin insists that supporting the declaration was his party's 'policy,' then I would encourage him to produce a copy of a cabinet decision adopting the resolution or even a copy of some instruction from cabinet or a minister to our UN representatives telling them to adopt it," Prentice wrote. "Neither exists."
"Perhaps he can produce a copy of his 'Kelowna accord' at the same time," Prentice added in the letter to the Ottawa Citizen, questioning the existence of the 2005 commitment by Canada's first ministers and aboriginal organizations for a 10-year program to improve education, housing, health and economic opportunities for aboriginal peoples.
The Martin government pledged $5.1 billion over the first five years of the Kelowna accord that was shelved by the minority Conservative government after it defeated the Liberals in the January 2006 federal election.
On Monday, Martin stood by his comments of last week that the Conservative government had reversed the Liberal course on the UN declaration. Only Canada and Russia opposed the declaration at a UN human rights council in June 2006. Canada will again oppose it at the UN general assembly soon, barring unexpected amendments.
"I do not believe that human rights, whether at the United Nations as expressed in the UN declaration, or in terms of the right at home to decent health care and education, as is the case with the Kelowna Accord, should be a matter of partisan politics," Martin said in a statement. "I am disappointed that the minister appears to believe that they should be."
Last week, Martin weighed in on debate about the UN declaration during an interview with CanWest News Service. Prentice and his officials have repeatedly denied allegations from critics, including aboriginal leaders, opposition party leaders and critics such as Amnesty International, who say that the Tories reversed the policy course of the previous government. Critics say the reversal undid years of work and embarrassed Canada on the international stage.
"Not only were we prepared to sign (the declaration), but we were strong advocates of it," Martin said, noting that Canada took a lead role during more than a decade of negotiations. "In terms of what the facts were, we supported it."
But, in his letter, Prentice stuck to his claim that it is the Liberals, not the Conservatives, who have reversed themselves.
"Perhaps it is because the declaration in question was simply not one of Mr. Martin's priorities when the Liberals were in government," he suggested.
"Perhaps it is because he has now promised on at least four separate occasions to make aboriginal issues a priority.
"Whatever the reason inspiring Mr. Martin's newfound support of what remains a flawed document, the fact is that no previous Canadian government has ever supported the document in its current form, because the wording is inconsistent with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, our Constitution Act, previous Supreme Court decisions, the National Defence Act and policies under which we negotiate treaties. For Mr. Martin to now suggest otherwise is both irresponsible and hypocritical."
Martin said last week that "it is not accurate" that the previous government, like the current one, was concerned that the declaration could be interpreted to expand native land and resource rights that are set out in Canadian treaties, protected by the constitution and have been interpreted in Supreme Court rulings.
Ottawa Citizen