Good afternoon, hon. members of the committee. Thank you for inviting me to testify before you today.

I am speaking from Ottawa, the traditional territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe nation, whose culture and presence continue to feed this land. At the Canadian Human Rights Commission, we recognize that it is incumbent upon us to reflect on our colonial legacy and the systemic injustices still faced by indigenous peoples. We are committed to continuing the work of reconciliation with humility and openness.

The commission welcomes your study. First, we would like to express our support for the joint recommendation that will be presented by our fellow panellists. This recommendation calls for Canada to take the lead in working with provincial and territorial governments to develop and adopt a national framework for the implementation of human rights.

As Canada's national human rights institution, the commission plays a unique role in the UPR process. There are so many human rights issues in Canada requiring attention, so we have focused our advocacy, during this UPR cycle, on a crosscutting issue that affects some of the most vulnerable people in this country: the condition of people deprived of their liberty. This is not just about people detained inside our prison system. It's also about people who are deprived of their liberty outside of that system. It's about migrant detainees, Black and first nations children who are being removed from their homes and placed in care, elderly people confined to long-term care facilities and people with disabilities who are institutionalized in communities across the country.

While some oversight mechanisms do exist, there are overwhelming gaps. That's why we're calling for the immediate ratification of OPCAT, the United Nations optional protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Ratifying OPCAT would provide a powerful framework for ensuring there is meaningful oversight in all places where people are deprived of their liberty.

We need only think back a couple of years to the pandemic to understand how important this is in places like long-term care homes. In prisons, ratifying OPCAT would pave the way for a more proactive approach to dealing with systemic human rights issues—issues like the overrepresentation of indigenous, Black and other racialized prisoners, especially indigenous women; the use of solitary confinement; the treatment of prisoners with mental health disabilities; the warehousing of older prisoners, where alternatives would be more appropriate; and the safety of 2SLGBTQQIA+ prisoners facing sexual coercion and violence.

Eight years ago, the government committed to ratifying the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Since then, the Canadian Human Rights Commission has called on Canada to follow through on this commitment. A number of people here today echoed that call, as did the 25 member states during the Universal Periodic Review. For Canada, ratifying the protocol would be an important step toward meeting its human rights obligations and strengthening protections for all.

Thank you. I look forward to your questions.