A plan for monitoring the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in Canada
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is an international agreement. It is sometimes called the "CRPD" or the "Convention" for short. The goal of the CRPD is to protect the rights and dignity of people with disabilities. It makes sure they are safe from discrimination. It makes sure they are treated equally.
Canada agreed to follow the rules of the CRPD in 2010. These rules say that Canada will do the following things.
In June 2019, the Canadian Human Rights Commission ("CHRC" or "Commission" for short) became responsible for monitoring Canada's implementation of the CRPD. When we do this monitoring work, we are officially called the National Monitoring Mechanism (NMM).
Monitoring the CRPD is an important responsibility. It means we will track how the CRPD is put into action in Canada. It also means that it is the CHRC's job to identify gaps and problems that need to be fixed. To do this monitoring work, we will work in close collaboration with people with disabilities, with organizations that advocate on their behalf, and with families and caregivers of people with disabilities. We want the monitoring work to be meaningful for people with disabilities and for this work to contribute to real change.
This Action Plan is informed by an Outcome Report from the CHRC's public engagement process in 2020. This is where people from across Canada provided their views on both what the CHRC should monitor and how the CHRC should conduct its monitoring work. As a result, the Action Plan serves two purposes.
This Action Plan is an evergreen document. This means that it will change and be updated on an ongoing basis as we work with people with disabilities, with organizations that advocate on their behalf, and with families and caregivers of people with disabilities.
The NMM Action Plan is built on four key areas:
The CHRC's role in monitoring the CRPD will follow several key principles to help guide its work. The meaning behind these principles was further informed by the lived-experiences of participants in the CHRC's public engagement process.
Participation means making sure everybody can take part. It means getting people involved in an activity or event. People told us that they want to help with our monitoring work. They said that people with disabilities are usually not included in decisions that affect them. This could be due to cost barriers, a lack of funding for supports, and a lack of necessary accommodations. We heard that people with disabilities should not be left behind. They must be included in the monitoring process. All groups and people with disabilities must be given the chance to take part. There must be energy and effort put towards including them.
We heard that people are concerned about accessibility. Accessibility means that everyone has equal access. Barriers are one of the things that affect accessibility. People told us about the many barriers that people with disabilities face every day. A lot of times these barriers are overlooked. This is because not everybody understands what barriers are and how they impact people. This includes physical barriers in buildings and public spaces, as well as a variety of accessibility barriers in schools and the workplace. Improving accessibility is especially important in order to ensure the full participation of people with disabilities.
Equality and non-discrimination mean that people are treated equally and fairly. It means that people are not discriminated against. People with disabilities experience discrimination and unfair treatment in many parts of their lives. This includes in their workplace and the community. People said that there needs to be work done to change public attitudes and behaviours towards people with disabilities. They said it would help if there was more awareness about how people with disabilities are treated. They also said that public education and training would help.
Intersectionality is a word used to describe an idea. The idea is about different parts of people's identity. A person's identity includes a lot of things about them. People experience discrimination and unfair treatment due to a combination of factors related to their identities and situations they live in. More education and awareness is needed on how gender, race, and poverty can play a role in the way people with disabilities are treated. People told us that intersectionality is important. They said that it should be taken into account when making decisions that affect people with disabilities.
The CHRC is committed to supporting advocacy efforts for all people with disabilities. This includes facilitating opportunities for change, and holding people and governments accountable for real action on issues that impact people with disabilities.
Under this key area, the CHRC will do the following things.
The CHRC is committed to supporting and empowering people with disabilities so that they are able to participate in monitoring activities in an accessible and inclusive way.
Under this key area, the CHRC will do the following things.
The CHRC is committed to building and fostering relationships with people with disabilities and organizations that advocate on their behalf. This includes seeking out diverse rights holders and those who we may not have yet engaged with, to ensure that the CHRC's monitoring work is informed by as diverse a perspective as possible.
Under this key area, the CHRC will do the following things.
The CHRC is committed to making sure that the results of monitoring are available and accessible to everyone. The CHRC also recognizes the importance of ensuring that the monitoring work contributes to real change for people with disabilities.
Under this key area, the CHRC will do the following things.