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We thank the United Nations for its input, and we'll give the organization's report on the poor due consideration, but let's not expect too much.
That's the message Prime Minister Stephen Harper will no doubt give the UN for its report from the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
The cause is noble -- reminding Canada it has room for improvement in the area of human rights, especially in its treatment of aboriginals -- but the document reads more like an NDP manifesto than a practical solution to our nation's problems .
The committee accused Canada of not doing enough to help the country's poor and disadvantaged, including aboriginals, African-Canadians, immigrants, disabled people, young people, single mothers and women earning low wages.
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The committee noted there are fewer people living below the poverty line in Canada, but by 2004, "11.2 per cent of the population still lived in poverty."
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Canada offered a meek defence, saying things are getting better, that most people can afford decent housing, and tax laws are changing to help the poor .
In some respects, it's difficult to argue with the UN report, and we don't want to. We want, and need, these issues raised so Canadians don't forget we have work to do to help the disadvantaged.
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The committee wants the minimum wage increased, higher levels of social assistance, better child care to guarantee women their right work and unemployment benefits for foreign workers who lose their jobs after arriving to do seasonal work.
How to best go about making all this happen is still up for debate, but the committee doesn't seem to think so. Raising the minimum wage most often results in layoffs. And, as we saw in the last election, child care policies are still the subject of great debate.
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Amnesty International's Allan Roy is curiously optimistic that Canada will fall into line. Said Roy: "Canada was recently elected to the new Human Rights Council at the UN on the pledge it would listen and respect these other rights committees, so we expect Canada to implement the recommendations."
Given Harper's record after barely three months in power, he'll be disappointed .
- Reprinted from the Sudbury Star