In June the province of Ontario agreed to fund the clean-up of a river system contaminated with mercury. In November the federal government agreed to provide specialized medical care for mercury poisoning as long sought by members of the Grassy Narrows First Nation. In July the Supreme Court of Canada, in a case brought by the Inuit hamlet of Clyde River, ruled that the government has an obligation to intervene when regulatory agencies fail to protect Indigenous rights. In August the UN CERD Committee expressed concern about Indigenous land rights violations and Canada’s failure to respect the right of free, prior and informed consent. The Committee asked Canada to report back within one year on measures to address the impacts of the Site C dam. In December the provincial government in British Columbia announced that construction of the Site C dam would continue, despite the objections of affected First Nations. In November the government announced support for a bill to develop a legislative framework for implementing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. In November, the Supreme Court rejected a potentially groundbreaking legal challenge by the Ktunaxa Nation in British Columbia which sought to apply constitutional protection of religious freedom to the preservation of Indigenous Peoples’ sacred sites. WOMEN’S RIGHTS In June, the federal government launched a Feminist International Assistance Policy and committed to placing women’s rights, gender equality and sexual and reproductive rights at the core of its foreign policy. In November the government released its second National Action Plan on women, peace and security. In June, the federal government released a strategy to combat gender-based violence, but without a national action plan. The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls proceeded throughout the year. A growing 116 number of relatives of missing and murdered women and girls expressed frustration about the Inquiry’s slow progress and poor communication, and several staff and one of five Commissioners resigned. Community hearings commenced in June and an interim report was issued in November. In October, Quebec passed the Act to Foster Adherence to State Religious Neutrality requiring everyone, including Muslim women wearing a niqab, to uncover their faces to use or provide government services, including on public transit and in libraries. A court ruling in December suspended application of the Act until a constitutional challenge is heard. RIGHTS OF LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENDER AND INTERSEX PEOPLE In June, Parliament passed legislation adding gender identity and expression as prohibited grounds for discrimination in Canada’s Human Rights Act and Criminal Code. COUNTER-TERROR AND SECURITY In January, six worshippers were killed and 19 others injured when a gunman opened fire in a mosque in Quebec City. In March, parliament adopted a motion calling for a committee study to develop a new approach for addressing Islamophobia and religious discrimination. In March, Canadian citizens Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad Abou-Elmaati and Muayyed Nureddin received compensation and an apology for the role of Canadian officials in their unlawful arrest, imprisonment and torture in Syria and Egypt between 2001 and 2004. In June, national security legal reforms were proposed, including improved review and oversight of national security agencies. Continuing concerns included insufficient information-sharing safeguards, inadequate appeal provisions for people named on “nofly lists”, and expanded mass surveillance and data-mining powers. In June, legislation was passed reversing 2014 Citizenship Act reforms which had allowed dual nationals convicted of terrorism Amnesty International Report 2017/18