Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Concluding observations on the initial report of Canada *
I.Introduction
1.The Committee considered the initial report of Canada (CRPD/C/CAN/1) at its 318th and 319th meetings (see CRPD/C/SR.318 and 319), held on 3 and 4 April 2017. It adopted the present concluding observations at its 328th meeting, held on 10 April 2017.
2.The Committee welcomes the initial report of the State party, which was prepared in accordance with the Committee’s reporting guidelines. It also appreciates the State party’s written replies (CRPD/C/CAN/Q/1/Add.1) to the list of issues prepared by the Committee (CRPD/C/CAN/Q/1).
3.The Committee appreciates the constructive dialogue held during the consideration of the report and commends the State party for its high-level delegation, headed by the Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Income Security and Social Development Branch, Employment and Social Development Canada, Kathryn McDade, which included delegates from various departments and agencies of the Government of Canada and from the governments of Quebec and Ontario.
II.Positive aspects
4.The Committee welcomes the State party’s engagement in a process towards accession to the Optional Protocol to the Convention. The Committee also commends the State party for its constitutional and statutory frameworks, in particular the Canadian Human Rights Act, which recognizes a human rights-based definition of disability and prohibits discrimination based on multiple grounds and on their compounded effects, as well as the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, in which discrimination is prohibited on the grounds of “mental or physical disability”.
5.The Committee welcomes the adoption and/or establishment of legislative and public policy measures at the federal, provincial and territorial levels aimed at implementing the Convention, including the Policy on Communications and Federal Identity adopted in 2016, which requires federal departments to release information in accessible formats; the endorsement of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, in 2015; and provisions in the Criminal Code to ensure that victims and witnesses with disabilities can provide testimony during criminal proceedings.
6.The Committee commends the State party for its accession to the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled, in 2016.
III.Principal areas of concern and recommendations
A.General principles and obligations (arts. 1-4)
7.The Committee is concerned about the State party’s reservation, which it continues to uphold, to article 12 of the Convention, preserving substitute decision-making practices. The reservation contradicts the object and purpose of the Convention as enshrined in article 1 and prevents the State party from fully implementing and addressing all human rights of persons with disabilities in compliance with the human rights model of disability.
8. The Committee recommends that the State party withdraw its declaration and reservation to article 12 (4) of the Convention and carry out a process to bring into line with the Convention federal, provincial and territorial legislation that allows for the deprivation of legal capacity of persons with disabilities. The Committee encourages the State party, in doing so, to consider the criteria set out in the Committee’s general comment No. 1 (2014) on equal recognition before the law.
9.The Committee notes with concern:
(a)That the provisions of the Convention have yet to be appropriately incorporated into legislation and policies across sectors and levels of government;
(b)The uneven application of the Convention and the Committee’s jurisprudence by the judiciary and law enforcement officials, including the police;
(c)The lack of legislation and public policies to protect the rights of persons with disabilities who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex.
10. The Committee recommends that the State party:
(a) Take leadership in convening provinces and territories in order to ensure a pan-Canadian approach to implementation and enact a comprehensive national action plan for implementing the Convention in collaboration with provincial and territorial governments and in consultation with persons with disabilities through their representative organizations. The State party should ensure that such an action plan includes benchmarks and a time frame for its implementation;
(b) Set up a mechanism aimed at ensuring that legislation at the provincial and territorial levels that is to be updated further includes specific measures to implement the obligations of the State party under the Convention;
(c) Strengthen the human, financial and technical resources of the Office for Disability Issues at the federal level and ensure appropriate formal and permanent mechanisms for coordination with provincial and territorial governments;
(d) Raise awareness among and develop capacity-building programmes for the judiciary and law enforcement officials about the Convention as a legally enforceable human rights instrument, the human rights model of disability and its principles, and the jurisprudence of the Committee, including its general comments and its Views on individual communications adopted, and inquiry procedures undertaken, under the Optional Protocol.
11.The Committee takes note of the consultations undertaken with Canadians, including Canadians with disabilities and their organizations, to inform the development of planned federal accessibility, as well as the promotion of organizations of persons with disabilities and their advocacy work at the national and international levels. However, the Committee is concerned about the absence of formal, recorded consultations on comprehensive plans for the implementation of the Convention, and about the absence of information on mechanisms to foster the leadership and participation of organizations of persons with intellectual disabilities and children with disabilities in consultations.
12. The Committee recommends that the State party:
(a) Establish formal and permanent mechanisms for consulting with organizations of persons with disabilities in an effective and result-oriented manner at all levels of administration relating to the comprehensive implementation of the Convention;
(b) Take measures, including specific budget allocations, to strengthen the advocacy roles of organizations of persons with disabilities, including organizations of women with disabilities, children with disabilities, persons with psychosocial and/or intellectual disabilities and persons with neurodegenerative conditions, including Alzheimer’s, dementia and multiple sclerosis.
B.Specific rights (arts. 5-30)
Equality and non-discrimination (art. 5)
13.The Committee is concerned about:
(a)The persisting gaps in the exercise and enjoyment of rights by persons with disabilities, such as the rights to education, work and employment and an adequate standard of living, due to, among other things, a lack of affordable housing and access to water and sanitation;
(b)The intersecting nature of discrimination against women and girls with disabilities, indigenous persons with disabilities and migrant persons with disabilities, who face heightened risks of gender-based violence, poverty, marginalization and barriers in access to mental health-care services;
(c)The absence of measures to ensure that reasonable accommodation is provided in all areas of the Convention beyond work and employment.
14. The Committee recommends that the State party:
(a) Adopt cross-sectoral strategies with a view to combating inequality and discrimination faced by persons with disabilities through, inter alia, affirmative action measures that include clear targets and the collection of data on progress achieved disaggregated by age, sex and indigenous background;
(b) Take into account article 5 of the Convention while implementing targets 10.2 and 10.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals;
(c) Set up criteria aimed at addressing multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination through legislation and public policies, including through affirmative action programmes for women and girls with disabilities, indigenous persons with disabilities and migrant persons with disabilities, and provide effective remedies in cases of such discrimination;
(d) Develop regulations and further guidelines for proactive implementation of the duty to accommodate, including provisions to increase awareness among public and private actors about the duties of and available tools for reasonable accommodation;
(e) Ensure that services for indigenous persons with disabilities in First Nation communities are equitable and appropriate, including health services aimed at preventing suicide among indigenous young persons with disabilities.
Women with disabilities (art. 6)
15.The Committee is concerned that women with disabilities face intersectional discriminatio