Welcome to the Canadian Augustinian Centre for Social Justice
The Canadian Augustinian Centre for Social Justice will work to break the silence surrounding the poor. Our goal is to help people recognize the social, political and economic conditions surrounding them and take action against these oppressive elements.
This is accomplished by offering
educational workshops/seminars for service
providers.
We will work to form linkages, networks
and partnerships among service providers so they can
be effective in building a foundation of community support.
“It would be better no one be hungry, and this necessity did not exist”. St. Augustine
Current Highlights
CANADIAN AUGUSTINIAN CENTRE FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE
SUBMISSION TO THE U.N. PERIODIC REVIEW
INTRODUCTION
The Canadian Augustinian Centre for Social Justice,
along with several Religious Congregations of men and women in
Canada, formed a coalition to present a submission to the UN
Periodic Review (UPR) which will be presented in Geneva in 2013. The
working Group of the UN will meet in Geneva in October & November of
2012.
The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a unique
process which involves a review of the human rights records of all
192 UN Member States once every four years. The UPR is a
State-driven process, under the auspices of the Human Rights
Council, which provides the opportunity for each State to declare
what actions they have taken to improve the human rights situations
in their countries and to fulfil their human rights obligations. As
one of the main features of the Council, the UPR is designed to
ensure equal treatment for every country when their human rights
situations are assessed.
The UPR was created through the UN General Assembly
on 15 March 2006 by resolution 60/251, which established the Human
Rights Council itself. It is a cooperative process which, by 2011,
had reviewed the human rights records of every country. Currently,
no other universal mechanism of this kind exists. The UPR is one of
the key elements of the new Council which reminds States of their
responsibility to fully respect and implement all human rights and
fundamental freedoms. The ultimate aim of this new mechanism is to
improve the human rights situation in all countries and address
human rights violations wherever they occur.
PERIODIC REVIEW 2013
Canada will be providing a report in 2013 in Geneva.
There is an opportunity for non-governmental groups in Canada to
also provide a report. The Augustinian Centre along with several
Religious Congregations in Canada has composed a report to be
submitted.
The topic is the protection of refugees and
immigrants to Canada and how the Canadian Government and the
legislation of Bill C31 need to be amended. The report was submitted
in October, 2012.
THE REPORT
The report which is entitled “Submission Concerning
the Protection of Canada’s Refugees
as Impacted in Bill C-31” represents the ideas,
beliefs and recommendations from several Religious Congregations in
Canada. The report is responding to some amendments to “Bill C-31
Protecting Canada’s Immigration System Act”. The submission contends
that the amendments compromise Canada’s ability to offer fair and
just treatment of refugees. It is our contention that rights and
protection of people under national and international agreements of
human rights have been undermined.
The recommendations include:
- That
Canada’s refugee determination system be fair, timely and independent.
- That
the Canadian government rescind the power granted the Minister of Public Safety
to declare refugees to be “irregular arrivals”.
- In
2009 the UPR made a recommendation to Canada which we now ask to be implemented.
It states, “Launch a comprehensive review leading to legal and policy reforms
which protects the rights of refugees and migrants to family reunification.”
-
That
the Canadian Government fulfill its obligation to provide health care to
refugees in Canada - a basic right for all Canadians.
- That
the Canadian Government implement an ‘Earned Regularization Program’ which would
allow people in the backlog to remain in Canada on the basis of humanitarian and
compassionate criteria such as: successful integration; length of time spent in
Canada; experiences of rape or torture; experience of domestic violence;
statelessness; human rights considerations; or sponsorship by a third-party.
Click here to access the full report: UN Submission
PERIODIC REVIEW 2009
The year 2009 was the last time Canada was reviewed by UPR. Canada presented a report and the various member states discussed the points made. There were approximately 75 recommendations that came forward. Canada accepted some and rejected others. You can view these recommendations at the following link: http://bit.ly/TqVJDR
As further information becomes available, it will be
posted here on our website.