Federal, provincial and territorial ministers responsible for human rights in Canada launched a new initiative last month that did not receive much attention, let alone fanfare, at the time. They agreed to establish the Forum of Ministers on Human Rights, through which they will come together for an inter-ministerial meeting every two years. First such meeting should take place in 2022.

Perhaps that sounds rather humdrum and not deserving of attention or fanfare. But it could in fact be very significant and is certainly long overdue. And if ministers proceed with political will and imagination, it is a development that could lead to considerable progress in more reliably and consistently protecting human rights across the country. At long last.

35 years ago, on a wintry evening in early 1985, I attended my first Amnesty International meeting.

I had just begun studying law at Dalhousie University in Halifax, with an entirely unformed notion of becoming a lawyer pursuing social change. I had seen an intriguing notice on a bulletin board giving details about the monthly meeting of the Halifax Amnesty group. I went, and never looked back.

I remember three things about that evening. First, the inspiring and welcoming Amnesty members I met were of all ages, backgrounds and interests, and from many different corners of the world; but were all united in a common sense of purpose and possibility. It was the evening I first heard of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and our shared responsibility to uphold it.

The daily COVID-19 information flow is relentless, necessarily so. Statistics and predictions of infection and death rates, unemployment and economic impact are being updated daily. Concerns mount about the safety of health care workers facing shortages of protective equipment. Physical-distancing guidance gets stricter and stricter. Governments lay out their financial-relief measures, including programs to alleviate massive job losses, help small businesses and address heightened risks for Indigenous communities, women and children at increased risk of violence in the home and other marginalized groups.

Amid all of this, though, we’re not hearing much about human rights.