What Others Say

Page 4

Prime Minister Brian Mulroney brushed aside concerns about Canada's international image during the summer of Native discontent.

Canada's international reputation was just fine, he said: the government's abdication of leadership in the Oka crisis wasn't a factor in a "law and order" problem.

Now that the United Nations human rights committee has censured Canada's dealing with Native grievances and its restrictions on a free press, perhaps the prime minister will find time to worry about the way Canada is perceived elsewhere.

The UN committee's censure is particularly troubling for a country that has a reputation as a peacemaker, a moderator of conflicts, a bastion of human rights. Canada's tarnished reputation owes much to the Mulroney government's mishandling of two pressing social issues. The fumbled Native confrontation and Canada's refugee backlog form the heart of the UN censure.

It shows once again the urgency of finding a comprehensive approach to addressing Native grievances. Indian Affairs Minister Tom Siddon still seem to miss the boat: speaking of the Lubicon Lake Indian band's half-century-old land claim, for instance, the minister said Canada is negotiating with the band as the UN wants it to. He neglected to mention the UN's finding in a report last May that Ottawa's delay in settling the Lubicon claim was a violation of human rights.

By the standards of many countries Canada has an excellent human rights decor. But that does not mean we can be smug - our deficiencies are glaring. A compassionate and humane country like ours can indeed overcome the blots on its record - if the government is sufficiently interested.

Editorial in The Edmonton Journal / 26 Oct. 1990