A/HRC/41/34/Add.2 80. Another case is that of Inuit people from Nunavut, who continue to experience disproportionate rates of tuberculosis. Current efforts to address the issue are welcomed, including Prime Minister Trudeau’s apology in March 2019 for the mistreatment of Inuit people during the tuberculosis epidemic, and the release in December 2018 of the Inuit Tuberculosis Elimination Framework in Inuit Nunangat. The latter followed the joint commitment between the indigenous authority, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, and the Minister for Indigenous Services to halve the tuberculosis rate in Inuit Nunangat by 2025 and to eliminate it by 2030. The framework is expected to be followed by action plans. The Special Rapporteur appreciates the participation of indigenous peoples in the development of the framework and the incorporation of human rights elements, including various health determinants, community empowerment as well as transparency and accountability. 81. The third case relates to the First Nation Grassy Narrows, whose river, EnglishWabigoon, continues to be contaminated. This not only prevents fishing – their traditional form of sustenance, economy and culture – but also has neurological and developmental health impacts on individuals. In addition, for decades, multinational logging companies have cut down the forests that is used for hunting, trapping and gathering medicines, and their water treatment plants do not meet filtering standards. Tap water has constantly exceeded guideline levels linked to potential serious health impacts, including cancer. Federal and provincial governments should make joint efforts to compensate the community members for the impact of mercury on their health and livelihoods, put an end to industrial logging on their territory, support the community’s plans to revive its livelihood and urgently upgrade the existing water treatment plant, while building a new plant to replace the old one. 82. The Special Rapporteur learned about further resource development projects in Northeast British Columbia that are causing environmental damage and health-related harm to indigenous communities. He reiterates the recommendation of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights that Canada regularly assess the environmental impact of extractive industry activities and of climate change on indigenous communities with their full engagement. 31 Furthermore, the affected communities should always be consulted when resource development projects are implemented on indigenous lands. 83. An additional remaining challenge relates to the forced or coerced sterilization of indigenous women. In 2017, a report of the Saskatoon Regional Health Authority documented 16 such cases between 2005 and 2010. Since then, at least 60 indigenous women in Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario32 have made similar allegations, including that their “consent” to be sterilized had been obtained during or immediately after giving birth, through coercive means and often without information about alternative birthcontrol methods. 84. The Special Rapporteur endorses the recommendations made in December 2018 by the Committee against Torture that Canada ensure that all allegations of forced or coerced sterilization are impartially investigated, that responsible persons are held accountable and that adequate redress is provided to victims. Furthermore, he urges Canada to adopt legislative and policy measures to prevent and criminalize the forced or coerced sterilization of women, particularly by clearly defining the requirement for free, prior and informed consent with regard to sterilization and by raising awareness among indigenous women and health-care personnel of that requirement.33 31 32 33 16 See E/C.12/CAN/CO/6, para. 54. See Inter-American Commission on Human Rights press release dated 18 January 2019, available at https://mailchi.mp/dist/iachr-expresses-its-deep-concern-over-the-claims-of-forced-sterilizationsagainst-indigenous-women-in-canada?e=a4c01651de. See CAT/C/CAN/CO/7, paras. 51 and 54.