Tavia Grant, The Globe and Mail 

As Canada vies for a seat on the United Nations human rights council, Indigenous leaders and environmental advocates have launched a co-ordinated campaign drawing attention to Canadian companies operating in the Amazon region and raising questions about their environmental and human rights track record.

Seizing on Canada’s efforts to land a seat on the 47-member council, a vote that will take place in 2027, the group has called on the federal government to take greater responsibility for how it monitors the resource companies in the country’s large and influential extractive industry.

In August, ahead of a UN human rights review of Canada, a delegation of Indigenous leaders, lawyers, community representatives and advocates from Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia and Peru travelled to Geneva, Switzerland to deliver a message to the international community.

Lorena Curuaia, a member of the delegation and part of the Iawá community in northern Brazil, said in an interview that Canada is not fulfilling its obligations to ensure Indigenous rights are respected and the environment protected when it comes to oversight of Canadian companies abroad.

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