Reconciliation is an important part of our human rights work. We must respect, promote, and protect the human rights of Indigenous people for reconciliation to be successful. The process is more than just acknowledging the oppressive history of our past, but also incorporating the needs and perspectives of Indigenous Peoples into our shared future. Reconciliation is not only about what we do, but also how we do it. No matter how old you are, your equality human rights are protected under the NWT Human Rights Act.

You may find that people sometimes treat you differently or negatively because of your age, your race, where you are from, your gender, gender identity, your sexuality, or because you have a disability. This is discrimination. The reasons you might be treated differently are called grounds. The NWT Human Rights Act protects 22 of them. It is against the law to discriminate against anyone when they are at work, in a public place, renting an apartment or when advertising.

The 94 Calls to Action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission address historic incidents of discrimination that relate to the grounds protected today under the NWT Human Rights Act. The federal government used grounds such as Place of Origin, Ethnic Origin, Ancestry, Race, Creed, and Family Affiliation as the basis to marginalize and oppress Canada’s Indigenous People.

These grounds are protected under the NWT Human Rights Act. Years of discrimination and oppression harmed generations of Indigenous People leading to numerous social issues including poverty, lack of education, disability, addictions, family violence, and loss of language and culture. The NWT Human Rights Act protects people from discrimination based on many of these social issues under the grounds of Social Condition and Disability.

The NWT Human Rights Commission can help you resolve issues of discrimination. You can call us for FREE from anywhere in the NWT at 1-888-669-5575 and talk to someone if you think you are being treated differently because of your age, race, gender, disability or any of the other grounds. Every call is confidential. This means we won’t tell anyone that you called us or what we talked about.

Human rights are for everyone. You can watch videos, enter our contests and talk to other people about equality human rights by joining our Facebook Page at facebook.com/nwthrc.

Do you know what YOUR rights are? You can learn more by visiting our website at nwthumanrights.ca. You can always email us if you have questions. Our email address is info@nwthumanrights.ca. You can even message us on Facebook!

We’re here for you, so let’s talk.

Article contributed by the NWT Human Rights Commission