News Release
August 19, 2019

143 Years of Sex-Based Discrimination Through the Indian Act Finally Comes to an End After Decades of Advocacy

(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, B.C. – August 19, 2019) For over 143 years the status and registration provisions of the Indian Act have been wielded as a colonial tool of assimilation to undermine the cultural integrity and legal status of Indigenous peoples. For decades First Nations women and their descendants have had to fight a long and winding battle to dismantle the sex-based discrimination that has been perpetuated by these provisions.

Dear Minister Bennett:

On May 17, 2017, Bill S-3 was amended in the Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples in order to remove the long-standing discriminatory treatment of Indian women and their descendants in the status provisions of the Indian Act, and more particularly, to remove the sex-based distinction between 6(1)(a) and 6(1)(c) status. We write to you today to ask you to support the Senate Committee's amendment, which will assist Indian women and their descendants, and all Indigenous peoples, to move forward.