E/CN.4/2005/88/Add.3 page 5 Introduction 1. Pursuant to Commission on Human Rights resolution 2001/57 of 24 April 2001, which established his mandate, and at the invitation of the Government of Canada, the Special Rapporteur visited Canada from 21 May to 4 June 2004. 2. The Special Rapporteur would like to express his gratitude to the Government of Canada, and especially to Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC), for its invitation and cooperation, as well as to the Assembly of First Nations for their support and to the many Aboriginal organizations and peoples that gave their time and provided useful information. 3. Out of Canada’s total population of about 30 million over 1.3 million, or 4.4 per cent, are Aboriginal people, defined in the Constitution as Indians, Inuit and Métis. They comprise 52 nations or cultural groups, including 614 First Nation (Indian) communities. 4. Aboriginal people, who once lived freely on the land, are found in all of Canada’s provinces and territories, and a large number also inhabit the metropolitan areas that concentrate the majority of Canada’s population. The Constitution Act, 1982, recognizes the existing Aboriginal and treaty rights of Aboriginal peoples, and the courts have to some extent subsequently reaffirmed this recognition. 5. The Special Rapporteur is encouraged by Canada’s commitment to ensure that the country’s prosperity is shared by Aboriginal people, a goal to which the federal, provincial and territorial governments devote an impressive number of programmes and projects and considerable financial resources, as well as by Canada’s commitment to close the unacceptable gaps between Aboriginal Canadians and the rest of the population in terms of educational attainment, employment and access to basic social services. This report on the main challenges faced by Aboriginal peoples in their quest to fully enjoy their human rights is based on information from various sources and on an exchange of views with federal, provincial and territorial authorities, leaders and representatives of indigenous communities and other indigenous, human rights and civil organizations. I. SCHEDULE FOR THE VISIT 6. The Special Rapporteur visited Nova Scotia, Quebec, Nunavut, Manitoba and Ottawa, where he held consultations with government authorities at the federal and provincial levels. He met principally with Michael Horgan, Deputy Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) and several of his collaborators; Chantal Bernier, Assistant Deputy Minister of Public Security and Emergency Preparedness (PSEP), Elisabeth Sanderson, Assistant Deputy Attorney-General, the Director Generals of Canadian Heritage, National Archives Canada, Privy Council Office, Foreign Affairs Canada, Indian Residential Schools Resolution Canada, Health Canada and a number of officials from other departments. 7. At the provincial level, the Special Rapporteur met, among others, in Nova Scotia, with the Deputy Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and the Associate Regional Director General of INAC, in Nunavut with several Deputy Ministers and officials of the territorial government. In Quebec he met with the Assistant Deputy Minister and other officials for Aboriginal Affairs and other departments of the provincial government.