Hakluyt
03-09-2007, 03:11 AM
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=99f7e1e1-4424-429c-908a-125822989a97&k=18408
Canada told not to use term 'visible minorities'
UN watchdog calls words 'racist,' but offers no alternative
Steven Edwards, CanWest News Service
Published: Thursday, March 08, 2007
UNITED NATIONS — Canada's use of the term "visible minorities" to identify people it considers susceptible to racial discrimination came under fire at the United Nations yesterday — for being racist.
In a report on Ottawa's efforts to eliminate racial discrimination in Canada, the world body's anti-racism watchdog said the words might contravene an international treaty aimed at combatting racism.
Members of the Geneva-based Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination also questioned other terms used by the federal government, among them "ethnocultural communities."
Other highlights of the report include a call for Canada to provide welfare to illegal immigrants and failed refugee applicants; an expression of concern about "racial profiling"; and a recommendation that Canada pass laws to prevent Canadian transnational companies from trampling on the rights of indigenous peoples overseas.
The report, released yesterday, presents the committee's findings after its members last month grilled a Canadian Heritage-led delegation on Canada's anti-racism policies.
All countries that have signed the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination must appear periodically before the committee to explain how they are respecting the treaty.
While the recommendations are not legally binding, Ottawa says it is taking note.
"Constructive suggestions made by the committee may be useful to Canada in order to enhance its implementation of the convention," said Dominique Collin, a Canadian Heritage spokeswoman.
The committee's 16 members are mainly academics or former diplomats from around the world, but none is from Canada.
In their latest report, they passed up concerns raised in earlier years about the plight of First Nations peoples in Canada to latch on to the government's use of the words "visible minorities" in numerous official documents.
"The committee is concerned that the use of the term may not be in accordance with the aims and objectives of the Convention," the report says.
It adds that Canada should "reflect further ?on the implications of the use of the term," but offers no suggestions about what words would be acceptable.
The federal Employment Equity Act defines "visible minorities" as "persons, other than Aboriginal people, who are non- Caucasian in race or non-white in colour."
To the committee, highlighting a certain group does not appear to be consistent with Article One of the Convention, which says racial discrimination occurs when equitable treatment is upset by "any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin."
Speaking at the grilling of Canada last month, committee member Patrick Thornberry went further.
"The use of the term seemed to somehow indicate that 'whiteness' was the standard, all others differing from that being visible," said the British international law professor, according to UN note takers.
Mr. Thornberry and other committee members refused to be interviewed yesterday, saying through a secretary that their report speaks for itself.
Eliminating all forms of identification would raise the question: How can minorities be helped or protected if there is no definition of who they are?
"I don't think the committee members could have realized that Canada's use of the term 'visible minorities' is aimed at ensuring positive discrimination," said Martin Collacott, a former Canadian ambassador to several Asian and Middle Eastern countries, now senior fellow at the Fraser Institute, a Canadian think-tank.
"It is a form of discrimination, of course, but of reverse discrimination. While I would also argue against it, I think it's clear the UN assumes that it aims to discriminate against people."
On undocumented immigrants and people who have been declined refugee status, the committee says Canada should pass laws ensuring they are "provided with access to social security, health care and education."
Regarding Canada's efforts to combat terrorism, it says it is "concerned about the heightened risks of racial profiling," and adds that Canada should amend its Anti-Terrorism Act "to include an explicit anti-discrimination clause."
© National Post 2007
Canada told not to use term 'visible minorities'
UN watchdog calls words 'racist,' but offers no alternative
Steven Edwards, CanWest News Service
Published: Thursday, March 08, 2007
UNITED NATIONS — Canada's use of the term "visible minorities" to identify people it considers susceptible to racial discrimination came under fire at the United Nations yesterday — for being racist.
In a report on Ottawa's efforts to eliminate racial discrimination in Canada, the world body's anti-racism watchdog said the words might contravene an international treaty aimed at combatting racism.
Members of the Geneva-based Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination also questioned other terms used by the federal government, among them "ethnocultural communities."
Other highlights of the report include a call for Canada to provide welfare to illegal immigrants and failed refugee applicants; an expression of concern about "racial profiling"; and a recommendation that Canada pass laws to prevent Canadian transnational companies from trampling on the rights of indigenous peoples overseas.
The report, released yesterday, presents the committee's findings after its members last month grilled a Canadian Heritage-led delegation on Canada's anti-racism policies.
All countries that have signed the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination must appear periodically before the committee to explain how they are respecting the treaty.
While the recommendations are not legally binding, Ottawa says it is taking note.
"Constructive suggestions made by the committee may be useful to Canada in order to enhance its implementation of the convention," said Dominique Collin, a Canadian Heritage spokeswoman.
The committee's 16 members are mainly academics or former diplomats from around the world, but none is from Canada.
In their latest report, they passed up concerns raised in earlier years about the plight of First Nations peoples in Canada to latch on to the government's use of the words "visible minorities" in numerous official documents.
"The committee is concerned that the use of the term may not be in accordance with the aims and objectives of the Convention," the report says.
It adds that Canada should "reflect further ?on the implications of the use of the term," but offers no suggestions about what words would be acceptable.
The federal Employment Equity Act defines "visible minorities" as "persons, other than Aboriginal people, who are non- Caucasian in race or non-white in colour."
To the committee, highlighting a certain group does not appear to be consistent with Article One of the Convention, which says racial discrimination occurs when equitable treatment is upset by "any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin."
Speaking at the grilling of Canada last month, committee member Patrick Thornberry went further.
"The use of the term seemed to somehow indicate that 'whiteness' was the standard, all others differing from that being visible," said the British international law professor, according to UN note takers.
Mr. Thornberry and other committee members refused to be interviewed yesterday, saying through a secretary that their report speaks for itself.
Eliminating all forms of identification would raise the question: How can minorities be helped or protected if there is no definition of who they are?
"I don't think the committee members could have realized that Canada's use of the term 'visible minorities' is aimed at ensuring positive discrimination," said Martin Collacott, a former Canadian ambassador to several Asian and Middle Eastern countries, now senior fellow at the Fraser Institute, a Canadian think-tank.
"It is a form of discrimination, of course, but of reverse discrimination. While I would also argue against it, I think it's clear the UN assumes that it aims to discriminate against people."
On undocumented immigrants and people who have been declined refugee status, the committee says Canada should pass laws ensuring they are "provided with access to social security, health care and education."
Regarding Canada's efforts to combat terrorism, it says it is "concerned about the heightened risks of racial profiling," and adds that Canada should amend its Anti-Terrorism Act "to include an explicit anti-discrimination clause."
© National Post 2007