VANCOUVER (British Columbia, Canada): The United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples has urged Canada to eliminate what it described as the assimilatory effects of the Indian Act, including the controversial second-generation cut-off rule that affects the transmission of Indian status across generations.
In technical advice issued earlier this month, the UN body called on Canada to remove ongoing discrimination in the Indian Act based on gender and race. It also asked Canada to abolish the second-generation cut-off, arguing that the measure contributes to the forced assimilation of First Nations peoples and conflicts with protections contained in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The intervention comes as Canada considers legislation aimed at amending registration provisions under the Indian Act. The bill was introduced after the court decision in Nicholas v. Canada, which dealt with discrimination affecting descendants of people who had lost Indian status through enfranchisement.
The Senate later adopted amendments to the bill through a unanimous vote, seeking to remove provisions that Indigenous advocates say continue to perpetuate discrimination and to eliminate the second-generation cut-off entirely.
The second-generation cut-off was introduced through changes to the Indian Act in 1985. Under the rule, children lose eligibility for Indian status after two successive generations of parenting with individuals who do not have status. Indigenous leaders and rights advocates have long argued that the provision gradually reduces the number of people entitled to status and weakens First Nations communities over time.
The Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs and members of the Indian Act Sex Discrimination Working Group welcomed the UN advice and called on the federal government to pass the bill with the Senate amendments intact.
The working group, made up of Indigenous organizations and women advocates from across Canada, has campaigned for years to address discrimination in the Indian Act affecting First Nations women and their descendants.
According to the UN advisory, the second-generation cut-off has assimilatory consequences that are inconsistent with Indigenous peoples’ right not to be forcibly assimilated. It said Canada should take steps to ensure its laws comply with international human rights standards and commitments under the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The latest recommendation follows another UN intervention earlier this year. In March, the United Nations Human Rights Committee urged Canada to eliminate the remaining discriminatory effects of the Indian Act on Indigenous women and their descendants and specifically recommended adopting proposed amendments concerning the second-generation cut-off.
Indigenous leaders said the issue has remained unresolved despite decades of advocacy, legal challenges and government commitments. They argue that repeated delays in reform have prolonged the effects of discrimination embedded in the registration system.
Canada’s Indian Act, enacted in 1876, governs many aspects of the relationship between the federal government and First Nations communities. While several discriminatory provisions have been amended over the years, Indigenous organizations have continued to challenge registration rules that they say produce unequal outcomes based on ancestry and family history.
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