Exploring Theme: "Bill S-3 An Act to Amend the Indian Act"

Senate of Canada: Ottawa – First Nations women and their descendants are still being denied status because of ongoing discrimination in the Indian Act, according to a report by the Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples. The report “Make it stop! Ending the remaining discrimination in Indian registration” found that ongoing discrimination in the registration provisions of the...

All provisions under Bill S-3 brought fully into force. The Bill removed the 1951 cut-off from the Indian Act registration provisions, ensuring that women and entitled descendants could register for status. Eligible individuals include descendants born prior to April 17, 1985 (or of a marriage before that date), of women who lost status or were...

Passage and implementation of Bill S-3 will finally eliminate 143 years of gender-based discrimination in the Indian Act....

Open Letter from Union of BC Indian Chiefs to Carolyn Bennet (Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNA): “Recall the Collaborative Process survey and honour the UN ruling on the Indian Act’s discrimination against women”. The CIRNA’s survey is fundamentally flawed and unrepresentative of the true collaboration that needs to take place between...

The United Nations Human Rights Committee ruled that Canada continues to discriminate against First Nations women and their descendants by denying them the same entitlement to full s. 6(1)(a) status under the Indian Act as First Nations men and their descendants. This long-standing discrimination affects First Nations women’s entitlement to status, their right to transmit status, and...

Native Women’s Association of Canada calls on the federal government to take immediate action. A more expansive approach is required to account for all discriminatory provisions, including the second-generation cut-off rule and the burden of proof to establish “Indian parentage”. This ruling is historic for many First Nations women and their descendants. Indigenous women deserve...

Ms. Claudette Dumont-Smith has been appointed as the Minister’s Special Representative (MSR) to lead the consultations. The collaborative process will involve comprehensive consultation and joint work with First Nations, Indigenous groups, experts and impacted individuals on Indian registration, band membership, and First Nation citizenship reform to ensure that the dialogues account for and reflect the...

The Act comes into force in two stages: Phase 1 addresses the initial discrimination relating to an Indian woman losing her status if she marries a non-indigenous man (after 1951); Phase 2 deals with restoring status to this impacted before 1951 (the 1951 cut-off) and other discrimination inequities....

Advocates have joined forces with two Aboriginal senators – Lillian Dyck and Sandra Lovelace -Nicholas – in an awareness campaign that kicked off this week urging the Liberal government to change the bill known as S-3. Part of the outreach, supported by the Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action, includes the distribution of a letter...

Bill S-3: “An Act to amend the Indian Act (elimination of sex-based inequities in registration)“. Government wants to equalize treatment for women but only from 1951 when the registry was created. First Nations must have the ability to maintain and protect the legal/legislative status and existence of its present and future citizens Senate is insisting that...