Federal government changes course on sex discrimination legislation
OTTAWA — The federal government has decided to change course on its proposed legislation to end sex-based discrimination in the Indian Act.
The government’s point man in the Senate, Sen. Peter Harder, told the upper chamber Tuesday that the government is offering to make a change that would restore full legal status to First Nations women and their descendants born prior to 1985 — a measure that moved Indigenous Sen. Lillian Dyck to tears.
“Colleagues, if we pass today’s motion, something wonderful will happen,” Dyck told the chamber, her voice cracking. “Something that First Nations women have been waiting for for nearly 150 years.”
The Indian Act, which dates back to 1876, remains the primary law defining the relationship between the federal government and First Nations across the country. Its original definitions focused primarily on men, denying women many of the same privileges and powers as their male counterparts when it came to their Indian status.