This is an archive of news stories and research from the National Union of Public and General Employees. Please see our new site - https://nupge.ca - for the most current information.
Bill C-3, Gender Equity in Indian Registration Act, without proposed amendments would fail to end sex discrimination in the Indian Act once and for all.
Ottawa (May 12, 2010) – Aboriginal Groups and women’s organizations are urging the federal government to withdraw its challenge to the amended Bill C-3, Gender Equity in Indian Registration Act and to end sex discrimination in the Indian Act once and for all.
Although entitled Gender Equity in the Indian Registration Act Bill C-3 as originally drafted, failed to achieve full equality between Aboriginal women and men in eligibility for and transmission of Indian status.
The House of Commons Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development recently adopted amendments to Bill C-3 which would expand the scope of the legislation so that a grandchild born before 1985 with a female grandparent would receive the same entitlement to status as a grandchild of a male grandparent born in the same period.
The amendments received the unanimous support of the opposition parties. It also followed the demands by Aboriginal women’s organizations, Aboriginal governments and Chiefs, including the Assembly of First Nations and the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, and legal experts, that sex discrimination under the Indian Act be eradicated. Despite this overwhelming tide of support for the amendments, the Conservative government opposes them on the basis that the amendments are outside of the scope of the Bill.
The legislation was introduced in response to a law suit by Sharon McIvor, challenging the 1985 amendments to the Indian Act on the basis of sex discrimination at the Supreme Court of B.C. The trial judge ruled in her favour. The Government of Canada appealed the trial decision and the B.C. Court of Appeal allowed the appeal in part.
The McIvor case addresses longstanding sex discrimination in the criteria for determining registration status under the Indian Act. Until 1985, status under the Indian Act followed the paternal line, transmitted by male Indians as fathers and husbands, but not by female Indians as mothers and wives. The 1985 amendments designed to address this discrimination did not operate retroactively, thus perpetuating aspects of the historical discrimination.
“Bill C-3 leaves intact significant areas of sex discrimination” says Aboriginal law expert and Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) member Naomi Metallic, “the amendments seek to address serious deficiencies within the Bill”.
“In my view the amendments fall well within the scope of the Bill” says Metallic. “According to its title, the Bill is an act ‘to promote gender equity in Indian registration’ by responding to the British Columbia Court of Appeal decision in McIvor. There is certainly nothing to prevent the Committee or the government from amending the Indian Act registration provisions in a comprehensive and meaningful fashion”.
On May 4 a group of Aboriginal women began an Amun ("big gathering") March in Wendake, Quebec which will culminate in a gathering in Ottawa on June 1. The 500 kilometer march aims to raise public awareness about ongoing issues of gender discrimination in the Indian Act.
NUPGE
The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE