Greens Support Bill C-3 to Address Gender Inequity in the Indian Registration

OTTAWA -- The Green Party of Canada is pleased that the government is about to introduce Bill C-3 to address gender inequity in the Indian Act.  

“This legislation marks the first time the Indian Act has been opened in 25 years but it comes again after pressure from Aboriginal women to end discrimination in the Act,” said Green Leader, Elizabeth May. “The Act was amended by Bill C-31 in 1985 when women pressured Indian Affairs to end discrimination.”

This new amendment is the result of a 2009 ruling by the British Columbia Court of Appeal that determined that the Act discriminates between men and women. The government was given until April 6th 2010 to make amendments to the Indian Act.  The courts ruled that Bill C-31 violates the equality rights guaranteed by section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

“These changes are needed to ensure that the numbers don’t continue to diminish, but this doesn’t go far enough,” said Lorraine Rekmans, Aboriginal Affairs Critic for the Green Party of Canada. “The Act to determine Indian status needs more than just tinkering.  It requires a complete overhaul because it does nothing to address the issues of citizenship or self determination for Indigenous people. Nations have inherent rights to determine their own citizenship in accordance with their own laws, customs and traditions. The irony of this is that the Act is not only steeped in gender discrimination but is in its entirety a racist piece of legislation.  So this really is a small change.”

It is expected that approximately 45,000 additional persons will become entitled to registration under the Indian Act if Bill C-3 is enacted.

“The government needs to ensure that funding is in place to address the needs of these additional people.  This amendment will create pressures on the existing resources of First Nations’ communities to provide federal programs and services.  This has to be addressed when implementing this amendment,” said Lorraine Rekmans. “While Bill C-31 was initially meant to ensure that many women and their children were entitled to be registered as status Indians, it also created different classes of Indian status, known as 6(1) and 6(2) depending on the section of the Indian Act that applied to a person’s particular situation.

“This system was steeped in gender discrimination.  It’s a step in the right direction to address inequities but it should be just a beginning,” said Elizabeth May. “This amendment should bring to light the broader issue of the many deficiencies in the Indian Act.”

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