I have just received Minister Qualtrough's update, and appended it below. The Protocol was to be signed by the end of 2017, but she now says it won't be signed until 2018 (if then). Worse, she's leaving the portfolio to a new minister, Kent Hehr. The reason given for this delay is that everybody and their aunt Em must be consulted. Nonsense. Canada's provinces and territories have already signed the convention, so why shouldn't they be held accountable for living up to it? That is the whole purpose of the Protocol -- or was signing the UN convention just for show??? We want Liberal grit but we're getting hundreds of consultations instead! So we need even more signatures to demand that the PM get the provinces, territories and Canadians to back up and enforce the convention they signed. No ifs, ands or buts! Let's please do all we can to get more signatures! Salvatore (Sal) Amenta ------------------------------------------------------------ Reply from Minister Qualtrough (August 28, 2017): Dear Mr. Amenta: Thank you for your email of June 28, 2017, in which you requested an update on Canada’s possible accession to the United Nations’s Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. As Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities, one of my top priorities is to promote equality of opportunity and improve the inclusion and participation of Canadians with disabilities in Canadian society. The Government of Canada is currently engaged in a federal review process as well as consultations with provincial and territorial governments, who have an important role to play in considering the possible accession to the Optional Protocol. The process also involves engagement with Indigenous organizations and civil society and will involve engagement with Indigenous governments, as appropriate. As part of this process, in February and March 2017, the Government of Canada consulted with civil society to seek its views on Canada’s accession to the Optional Protocol. It did so through an in-person roundtable with approximately 30 non governmental organizations and Indigenous organizations, as well as an online public consultation. A report on these consultations will be available later this summer on the Consulting with Canadians website at www1.canada.ca/consultingcanadians/. Once the federal government’s consultation and review process is complete, the Government of Canada will make a decision on accession. If the decision is in favour of accession, the Optional Protocol will be tabled in Parliament, pursuant to the Policy on the Tabling of Treaties in Parliament, and the Government of Canada will seek formal support of all provincial and territorial governments for accession. We are working toward completion of this process in 2018. The Government of Canada is committed to working towards the ongoing implementation of the Convention in removing obstacles and creating opportunities for persons with disabilities in Canada and internationally. I hope that this information is helpful. Yours sincerely, The Honourable Carla Qualtrough, P.C., M.P. Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities