A/HRC/54/31/Add.2 V. Conclusions and recommendations 86. The Government of Canada has made significant progress over the 10 years since the previous visit of the Special Rapporteur, through the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act and other important measures. The Special Rapporteur commends the Government for its proactiveness on Indigenous issues in international forums, its constructive collaboration during the visit and its open acknowledgment of remaining challenges. Canada can serve as an example for other countries with regard to acknowledging the historical and ongoing harms against Indigenous Peoples and to advance reconciliation. It is laudable that Canada has taken many important steps to advance Indigenous Peoples’ rights. Regrettably, the most significant achievements are often acquired through court decisions or case settlement rather than implementation of governmental policies, and these advances are ultimately the result of Indigenous Peoples’ strong determination and unabated courage to defend their rights. 87. The Government must address, as a priority, the deep-set, systemic and structural racism affecting Indigenous Peoples and, without further delay, put into practice the calls issued by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and other thematic commissions. Implementation of these recommendations is vital to gain the trust of Indigenous Peoples in Canada and to maintain constructive and collaborative dialogues. If political commitments are not followed by concrete actions with lasting impacts on Indigenous Peoples’ lives, the country’s perceived progressiveness at the international level will be questioned. Indigenous Peoples are asking Canada to respect their Nationto-Nation relationships, treaties and self-government agreements and to ensure their full and equal participation in decisions that affect their rights, title and interests. Canada has embarked on an important journey towards reconciliation that must dismantle the foundation of structural racial discrimination against Indigenous Peoples. 88. The Special Rapporteur recommends that Canada take the following actions in respect of collaboration, cooperation and consultation with Indigenous Peoples, including representatives of non-status and off-reserve people. Legal and institutional framework 89. Canada should: (a) Encourage all provinces and territories to incorporate the provisions of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples into binding legislation and establish a commemoration day of truth and reconciliation; (b) Set up an independent Indigenous-led human rights mechanism in compliance with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles), to monitor and enforce the implementation by Canada of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, (c) Review and amend all relevant laws to ensure they align with the State’s domestic and international obligations towards Indigenous Peoples and remove any existing legal barriers to the effective exercise of Indigenous self-government; (d) Ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169) of the International Labour Organization and the American Convention on Human Rights. Residential schools 90. GE.23-13374 Canada should: 17