Note: For those who are unfamiliar with UNDRIP, it’s supposed to give the Indigenous people the right to veto any outside projects on their land that will affect them… such as pipelines being built on their lands.

Cree Senator Mary Jane McCallum says too much is at stake for Bill C-262 to die on the Senate floor.

The former university professor and long time advocate for Indigenous rights tells APTN News
that “by obstructing the vote the senate is feeding into the cycle of
manufactured violence toward Indigenous peoples by not providing them
the opportunity to move forward in a positive direction.”

McCallum’s comments come amid allegations by Liberal and independent
senators who say Conservative senators are deliberately stalling the
bill from going to committee, where it would be studied and potentially
amended before returning to the senate floor for a third and final
reading.

If passed, the bill would compel Canada to harmonize its laws with
the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
(UNDRIP), which details the global minimum standards for recognizing and
respecting Indigenous rights.