Happy Holidays 2018

December 21, 2018

Dear Friends & Colleagues:

As 2018 winds down, I want to wish everyone in the disability community and our allies a happy holiday season and to encourage us all to celebrate two important milestones that have been achieved this year:

  • Canada’s accession to the Optional Protocol of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) which enables the CRPD Committee to hear complaints about rights violations from Canadians with disabilities, and
  • Bill C-81, the Accessible Canada Act, named the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) as the body responsible for monitoring the Government of Canada’s implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, as called for in paragraph 2 of article 33 of the CRPD.

These two milestones could not have been achieved without the commitment and dedication of human rights champions, particularly those in the organizations of people with disabilities.

In 2019, CCD, along with other organizations, both national and provincial groups, will be engaging vigorously with the governments of Canada to ensure that the implementation and monitoring of the CRPD is inclusive of people with disabilities, because we remain dedicated to the principle which guided the development of the CRPD – Nothing about us without us. As Minister Qualtrough states, “Nothing without us” because truly everything affects us, people with disabilities: we are girls, boys, women, men, moms, dads, grandparents, students, workers, retired people, entrepreneurs, newcomers, Indigenous peoples, racialized people, LGBTQ2S,….

We recognize that everyone in the disability community in their own way contributes to our collective goals of an accessible and inclusive Canada.  If one of the ways that you want to contribute is through a financial donation to CCD to support our human rights work, please be aware that CCD provides charitable tax receipts for donations that it receives. You can make your gift through CanadaHelps:

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/6026

or

by cheque to our Winnipeg office (909-294 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg MB, R3C 0B9).


In Solidarity,

Jewelles Smith
CCD Chairperson

P.S.

Below, I am sharing with you the letter that the Council of Canadians with Disabilities (CCD) sent to Prime Minister Trudeau, all Members of Parliament, and the Council of the Federation acknowledging the importance of Canada’s accession to the Optional Protocol and the naming of the CHRC as the domestic monitor of the CRPD.

December 21, 2018

Open Letter

VIA EMAIL

The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, M.P., P.C.
Prime Minister of Canada
Langevin Block
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A2

RE: Recognizing Two Important Human Rights Milestones of 2018

Dear Prime Minister:

This year, with the accession to the Optional Protocol of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and the naming of the Canadian Human Rights Commission as the domestic monitoring body for CRPD implementation in Bill C-81, the Federal and Provincial/Territorial Governments have made significant advances in regaining Canada’s position as an international leader for human rights in the context of disability. 

The Council of Canadians with Disabilities (CCD) celebrates Canada’s accession to the Optional Protocol.  We recognize that accession reinforces the commitment that the Federal, Provincial and Territorial governments have made to ensuring that people with disabilities have full enjoyment of their human rights, as elaborated in the CRPD, which Canada ratified in 2010.  CCD called upon Canada to accede to the Optional Protocol because the mechanism strengthens the human rights protections that are available to people with disabilities in the CRPD, and we congratulate you on this important advance.

CCD also applauds the Government of Canada for naming, in Bill C-81, the Accessible Canada Act, the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) as the body responsible for monitoring the implementation of the CRPD, as called for in article 33 (2) of the Convention.  We welcome this important step of designating the CHRC as the monitoring mechanism for the CRPD.  Robust domestic monitoring will equip us as a nation with the knowledge necessary for determining whether or not Canada is achieving the goals of an accessible and inclusive Canada.  Indeed, CCD had been calling for Canada to name the Commission as the domestic monitor since our ratification in 2010.  It must be noted that the Convention also makes clear (in article 33(3)) truly robust domestic monitoring must also be inclusive of civil society and the organizations of people with disabilities need to be properly resourced to engage effectively in monitoring.

These two milestones could not have been achieved without the commitment and dedication of human rights champions in the Federal, Provincial and Territorial governments and in civil society.

Very sincerely yours,

Jewelles Smith
CCD Chairperson

CC: Members of the House of Commons

Council of the Federation