Guiding recommendations

Recommendation 1: Broaden the concept of human rights to incorporate international human rights principles as reflected in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and Indigenous legal traditions, in the Code and BCHRT operations and practice.

Guiding recommendations

Recommendation 2: Advocate to add Indigenous identity as a protected ground to the Code. Current grounds of discrimination under the Code (including based on race, colour, ancestry or religion) do not adequately address the discrimination Indigenous Peoples report experiencing. This would send a message of inclusion and reflect the individual and collective nature of Indigenous human rights.

Guiding recommendations

Recommendation 3: Increase the number of Indigenous Peoples at all levels of the BCHRT, including staff, tribunal members and contractors.

Guiding recommendations

Recommendation 4: Create education materials and training:

1. For Indigenous Peoples, about the Code and BCHRT processes;
2. Within the BCHRT, to develop cultural competency and safety among BCHRT staff and tribunal members;
3. For the general public, through a proactive campaign to highlight specific areas of discrimination faced by Indigenous Peoples.

Immediate procedural steps

Recommendation 8: Create a staff/tribunal committee tasked with developing the Expanding Our Vision Implementation Plan. Indigenous lawyers and cultural leaders or academics with knowledge of human rights should be recruited to join these efforts. The Expanding Our Vision Implementation Plan should include immediate steps to be taken in the first 6 months, and then be renewed on a yearly basis.

Incorporate Indigenous laws

Recommendation 10: The BCHRT should actively engage with Indigenous Peoples, working with the Office of the Human Rights Commissioner, Indigenous lawyers, and law schools, to incorporate Indigenous laws into a renewed human rights process which reflects Indigenous approaches for protecting human rights.

Incorporate Indigenous laws

Recommendation 11: The BCHRT, working in concert with the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, could approach other human rights agencies to institute an Indigenous ombuds office across jurisdictions, per the recommendation of the MMIWG2S Inquiry.

Increase Indigenous involvement within the BCHRT

Recommendation 12: Priority should be given to hiring or appointing Indigenous staff and tribunal members.

Increase Indigenous involvement within the BCHRT

Recommendation 13: Audit the current HR process to identify why Indigenous Peoples are not being recruited or hired. Provide specific training to HR staff on how to actively recruit and fairly assess Indigenous applicants. Seek specific mentoring advice from other organizations with higher Indigenous staff ratios about how to address this underrepresentation. The BCHRT should set yearly hiring targets for the first five years, and report on success in meeting those targets in annual reports.

Increase Indigenous involvement within the BCHRT

Recommendation 14: Audit the tribunal appointment process to identify why Indigenous Peoples are not applying or being appointed as tribunal members. Set specific recruitment and appointment goals for BCHRT Indigenous tribunal members.