Canada Taken to Task at UN on Human Rights: Women, Aboriginals, Refugees Report on Covenant [of Economic, Social & Cultural Rights]

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Prime Minister Jean Chretien's Liberal government has been accused by a United Nations committee of balancing its books on the backs of the poor by the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

At issue was Canada's obligations under the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, a UN document adopted 22 years after the original human rights declaration in 1948. As a signatory to the covenant, Canada is obliged to ensure its people are entitled to certain rights, including adequate food, clothing, housing, health care, education, working conditions. A delegation of Canadian non profit organizations representing women, First Nations, poor people, …