Background: Given Canada’s foundation in colonization and the manner in which this intersected with gender, as demonstrated by the various provisions in the Indian Act that removed power and representation from Indigenous women (e.g., the prohibition against of women voting and running in band council elections, and the provisions that caused many women and their descendants to lose status, an intersectional gendered analysis is necessary to ensure that implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) addresses the harms of colonization and the specific ways in which it has impacted Indigenous women.
In November 2019, a private member’s Bill 76, was introduced in the Ontario Legislature to implement UNDRIP (Ontario Legislative Assembly, 2021). Bill 76 calls for laws in Ontario to be in line with UNDRIP. Bill 76, if passed, would provide an important mechanism for Ontario to uphold its international human rights obligations and signal a meaningful commitment to reconciliation (Mandhane, 2019). The Bill proposes that:
A. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples have force of law in Ontario;
B. The Government of Ontario shall, in consultation and cooperation with indigenous peoples in Ontario, take all measures necessary to ensure that the laws of Ontario are consistent with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples;
C. The Government of Ontario shall, in consultation and cooperation with indigenous peoples in Ontario, develop and implement a provincial plan to achieve the objectives of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The Declaration is a key building block in fully recognizing, respecting, protecting, and fulfilling the rights of Indigenous peoples. Further, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission called on the Provincial Government to adopt and implement UNDRIP (Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 2015).
Given that Canada’s colonial project engaged in gendered attacks, including the various provisions in the Indian Act that removed power and representation from Indigenous women (for example, the prohibition against voting and running in band council elections and the provisions that caused many women and their descendants to lose status), a gendered analysis is necessary to ensure that implementation of the UN Declaration addresses these harms of colonization as well.
Taking a gendered approach is particularly important to reveal the structures of power that “create hierarchical and differential access to resources, representation, political influence, and to being ‘heard’ in indigenous societies.” (Kuokkanen, 2012)
Although women’s rights are formally codified as human rights under the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) (United Nations, 1979) and Indigenous peoples’ human rights are codified and recognized in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) (United Nations, 2007). Indigenous women’s rights are often neglected at both the international and local level (Animbiigoo Zaagi igan Anishinaabek, 2021; Gunn, 2018; Parisi, 2007).
The intersectionality of gender and colonization must be considered when implementing UNDRIP.
