Union of B.C. Chiefs Council: Resolution on USMCA and the Violation of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent

UNION OF B.C. INDIAN CHIEFS

CHIEFS COUNCIL

FEBRUARY 26TH-27TH, 2020

MUSQUEAM COMMUNITY CENTRE, XʷMƏΘKʷƏY̓ƏM (MUSQUEAM TERRITORY)

Resolution no. 2020-06

RE: Call for USMCA and Signatories to Uphold the UN Declaration

WHEREAS the US-Mexico-Canada-Agreement (USMCA) represents a free trade deal that will replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and introduce new policies around labour and environmental standards, intellectual property protections, and digital trade;

WHEREAS US, Canada, and Mexico are perpetuating historic patterns of Indigenous rights abuses and violations of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) through large-scale development projects that the USMCA must be contextualized alongside. The Dakota Access Pipeline in the States, the Coastal Gaslink Pipeline in Canada, and the Maya Train project in Mexico have been criticized by various bodies of the UN for their failure to comply with the international standards of consultation and FPIC, and for the harassment and intimidation land defenders opposed to these projects have faced;

WHEREAS the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which the government of Canada has adopted without qualification, and has, alongside the government of BC, committed to implement, affirms:

Article 19: States shall consult and cooperate in good faith with the indigenous peoples concerned through their own representative institutions in order to obtain their free, prior and informed consent before adopting and implementing legislative or administrative measures that may affect them.

Article 32(1): Indigenous peoples have the right to determine and develop priorities and strategies for the development or use of their lands or territories and other resources.

(2): States shall consult and cooperate in good faith with the indigenous peoples concerned through their own representative institutions in order to obtain their free and informed consent prior to the approval of any project affecting their lands or territories and other resources, particularly in connection with the development, utilization or exploitation of mineral, water or other resources.

Article 38: States, in consultation and cooperation with indigenous peoples, shall take the appropriate measures, including legislative measures, to achieve the ends of this Declaration;

WHEREAS in September 2019 Tonatierra, a non-profit Indigenous rights organization based in Arizona, appealed to the USCMA Working Group of the US House of Representatives and called for a public hearing to address the systemic disregard for the rights of Indigenous people, stating: “There can be no approval of USMCA without recognition, respect, and effective mechanisms for the protection of the internationally recognized Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the trade zone encompassing the three countries,

specifically the right of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC)”;

WHEREAS Tonatierra pointed to the Indigenous Peoples of Mexico who convened in the Zapatista territories to make known their “determined opposition to the imposition of the USCMA scale mega

development projects that are already being illegally implanted,” and stated that if the US Congress should approve the USCMA they would be “complicit in a deliberate act of international aggression against the Indigenous Peoples of Mexico”;

WHEREAS after their messages were ignored and the Senate Finance Committee passed the USMCA on January 9, 2020, Tonatierra renewed their calls for the signatories of the USCMA to meet the minimum standards of FPIC, and wrote to US Senator Kyrsten Sinema about the legal imperative to hold a public hearing that would inform US congressional representatives and the public about the right of Indigenous peoples to FPIC; and

WHEREAS the USCMA has now been ratified by Mexico and the US, and is currently awaiting ratification from Canada, upon which the agreement will go into effect after 90 days.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED the UBCIC Chiefs Council fully supports the call for a public hearing to inform the public and the appropriate legislative representatives on the violations of FPIC that have resulted from government backed projects and to communicate to the American, Mexican, and Canadian governments that any international commercial agreement must be accompanied and contextualized by the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples;

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the UBCIC Chiefs Council opposes any actions by the US, Canada, and Mexico that breach the international standards of FPIC and consultation, and calls upon the federal government of Canada to delay ratification of the USCMA until they can ensure that the USCMA meets Canada’s constitutional and international human rights obligations and is consistent with their commitment to federal legislation that will implement the UN Declaration; and

THEREFORE BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED the UBCIC Chiefs Council directs the UBCIC Executive and staff to work alongside Tonatierra and other like-minded organizations to compel Canada, Mexico and the US to take immediate action to ensure that the USMCA will be fully inclusive of Indigenous rights and will not prioritize investment deals or development projects over the welfare of Indigenous peoples.

Moved:           Ruby Manilla, Da'naxda'xw/Awaetlala Nation (Proxy) Seconded:     Chief Donna Aljam, Nicomen Indian Band Disposition:        Carried

Date:               February 27, 2020