MP seeks probe into sterilization allegations
OTTAWA The federal government and the provinces must examine “monstrous” allegations of modern-day forced sterilizations of Indigenous women, NDP reconciliation critic Romeo Saganash said Monday before he pressed for answers in the House of Commons.
Coerced sterilization clearly breaches human rights standards that Canada must fight to uphold, Saganash said Monday, adding authorities should very carefully read Article 2 of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide adopted by the UN in 1948.
That agreement says “genocide” includes any acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, such as by “imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group.”
Canadians shouldn’t tolerate allegations of forced sterilization in their country, Saganash said, and Ottawa must address the issue.
“I think they have to take this seriously,” said the Cree lawyer and MP from northern Quebec.
The issue of forced sterilizations will also be raised at the UN Committee Against Torture this week, when Amnesty International Canada and a national law firm call for accountability for the practice.
Maurice Law is leading a proposed class-action lawsuit against the federal government, the government of Saskatchewan, all its health authorities, and individual medical professionals.
The lawsuit was launched in 2017 by two women in the Saskatoon Health Region who each claimed $7 million in damages. Now about 60 women are part of the lawsuit.
An additional 32 women have come forward to report they were sterilized without consent, associate Alisa Lombard said Monday.
In its submission to the UN committee, Law said there has been no effort at a comprehensive review to understand the scale of the problem or the conditions that make forced sterilizations possible.
During question period on Monday, Indigenous Services Minister Jane Philpott said the Liberal government is actively working with provinces and faculties of medicine to ensure safe and culturally appropriate health care is available across the country.