Bill S-2, which amends the Indian Act to address new registration entitlements, has been amended by the Senate to eliminate the second-generation cut-off of Indian status and replace it with a one-parent rule. The second-generation cut-off, now 40 years after it was enacted, has dramatically reduced the ability of some First Nation persons to transmit their status to their children—unless they marry a status partner.

There is a looming crisis: some First Nation communities may ‘disappear’ over time because members cannot pass on their status to their children—unless they marry a status person.

Some feminists and Indigenous women’s political groups have actively advocated for the Senate to make a one-parent amendment to Bill S-2 by incorrectly framing the second-generation cut-off of status as a women’s issue which must be eliminated to protect women and children from any dire consequences that loss of status might entail. Don’t be fooled. The second-generation cut-off is a gender-neutral form of limiting transmission of Indian status.

Parliament shouldn’t feel compelled to rush to rescue First Nation women; they are not the sole........

© The Hill Times