Indian Act Sex Discrimination Working Group News Release
Senate Committee votes to eliminate the second generation cut-off

Nov 19, Ottawa, ON – The Standing Senate Committee on Indigenous Peoples (APPA Committee) voted 10-1 in favour of amendments to Bill S-2 that, if supported by the Senate and House of Commons, will eliminate the second generation cut-off and prevent the legislative extinction of First Nations.

Bill S-2 was introduced by the Government of Canada to respond to the successful Charter challenge in Nicholas v. Canada. In that case, the Court ruled that stripping Indian status from the wives and children of men who enfranchised, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, was discriminatory. The APPA Committee amended Bill S-2 so that, in addition to curing the discrimination faced by the Nicholas plaintiffs, it will also eliminate the sex and race discrimination inherent in the second generation cut-off.

The Indian Act Sex Discrimination Working Group congratulates and thanks the APPA Committee for listening to the many witnesses who came forward to tell them how the second generation cut-off is harming their lives, dividing their families, and threatening the long-term existence of their First Nations. The Working Group is grateful for the courageous and heartfelt action by Indigenous and non-Indigenous Senators who worked together to offer the Government of Canada a way to end to the sex- and race-based discrimination embedded in the second-generation cut-off.

Approximately 57 witnesses appeared before the Committee, many representing hundreds of First Nations communities and individuals. The vast majority called for an immediate end to the second generation cut-off. As Mi’kmaw Senator Prosper, Chair of the Committee, noted in his comments when he moved the motion to amend, the testimony was overwhelming and the witnesses were clear: the second-generation cut-off is discriminatory and it is a form of forced assimilation. It is harming First Nations individuals and First Nations communities now. There is no time to wait.

Extensive consultations have been held on the second-generation cut-off since it was created in 1985, yet Canada is pushing for even more consultations on how to address it, with no timeline or guaranteed amendment. The APPA Committee agreed that consultation cannot be deployed to delay equality and postpone providing remedies for rights violations.

The APPA Committee has been an important voice for First Nations women and their descendants and for First Nations who are working for an end to the sex- and race-based discrimination in the Indian Act and an end to the legal extinction plan that is built in to the second generation cut-off. In 2017, this Committee introduced amendments to Bill S-3 to ensure that the majority of the pre-1985 discrimination in the Indian Act was eliminated. Today, the Senate Committee passed amendments that, if passed by the House of Commons, will ensure that the majority of the post-1985 sex- and race-based discrimination is eliminated.

Quotes from members of the Indian Act Sex Discrimination Working Group:

Sharon McIvor: “Now the baton is passed to the Senate, the House of Commons and the Government of Canada. They can make 2026 the year that Canada ends the use of the status registration provisions in the Indian Act as a tool of forced assimilation. 150 years of using discrimination in the law to make Indians disappear is enough. We are counting on them now.”

Jeannette Corbiere Lavell: “Miigwetch to all the Senators who voted to remove the second generation cut-off from the Indian Act yesterday. And on behalf of all the young people who, like myself 54 years ago, are being told by Canada that they don’t belong, that they are not legally part of our First Nations – we all say, ‘No more!’ ”

Pamela Palmater: “First Nations, First Nations organizations, and First Nations women, elders and youth – all rights-holders – have spoken. It is long past time to end the unconstitutional legislative extinction formula in the Indian Act. We have fought many generations to survive, preserve our cultures and identities, and ensure the existence of our Nations into the future. Thanks to APPA, we are one step closer to making it happen.”

Dawn Harvard-Lavell: “I remember elementary school teachers telling us that Senate is supposed to function as the chamber of sober second thought on legislation in Canada and I am proud to say I was able to witness this in action. After generations of governments have put off addressing the second generation cut-off, preferring instead to do only the bare minimum legally required by successive court rulings, these Senators had the courage to see what is happening, and instead of making excuses and empty promises, passing the buck to a future session,  or a future committee, they said enough is enough, we can no longer look away.”

Zoë Craig-Sparrow: “It was an honour to be there to see these amendments pass- you could feel in the room how momentous this vote was. On behalf of myself, and my future children and descendants, hay ce:p q̓ə to all the Senators. Our work is not done, but this is a huge step in the right direction. If we remain determined, brave, and steadfast, and our representatives in the House join us, one day my children will have status and they will look back at this defining moment in history with pride, and, most importantly, with their rights.”

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