U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay delivers a statement during the opening of a session of the Human Rights Council at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Monday, June 18, 2012. (AP Photo/Keystone, Salvatore Di Nolfi)
June 18, 2012 - 12:28 PM
OTTAWA - The Harper government is striking back at a United Nations agency for its criticism of Quebec's Bill 78.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay says she's disappointed by the controversial law, which sets limits on how protests are conducted.
Pillay expressed her opinion of the Quebec law in a single line of a speech in Geneva during which she lamented rights violations in places such as North Korea, Zimbabwe and South Sudan.
The Conservative government in Ottawa was quick to respond to the criticism, defending Quebec's right to pass its own laws in a democratic environment.
A government spokesman shot back at Pillay for ignoring worse rights' abuses in places such as Iran, Belarus and Sri Lanka.
The government recently shot back at the UN's special rapporteur on the right to food for accusing Canada of ignoring hunger within its own borders.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2012