Amnesty International Canada Report on Making 2017 "A Year for Human Rights"

Amnesty International has released its annual human rights agenda for Canada entitled A Year to Get it Right.

It provides a list of 35 recommendations for the Canadian government including:

• halting construction of the Site C dam in northeastern British Columbia
• beginning implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
• increasing accountability for Canadian extractive companies operating abroad
• adopting a human rights-based approach to national security
• and much more on issues ranging from gender equality to refugees and foreign policy

Alex Neve, Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada’s English Branch, and Béatrice Vaugrante, Director General of Amnesty International Canada’s Francophone Branch, explained the rationale behind the report in a commentary published this morning in the pages of The Ottawa Citizen:

"There will be much pressure on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to appease new counterparts, south of the border and elsewhere, who have come to power having fuelled discrimination and division. But there can be no room to waiver. Respect for human rights must be at the heart of what Canada seeks to advance around the world, as never before."

"2017 must be a year for human rights."