Bill S-2 tries again to fix Indian Act as nations call for sovereignty over membership

Candace Maracle · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 16, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

A precocious introduced bill aims to destruct much residual inequities successful the registration section of the Indian Act, but immoderate nations inactive consciousness the authorities shouldn't be infringing connected First Nations' inherent close to find their ain membership. 

Bill S-2 was tabled successful the Senate past month. It replaces Bill C-38, which was tabled successful December 2022 but wasn't passed earlier the dissolution of Parliament earlier this year.

The measure seeks to guarantee First Nations radical with household histories of enfranchisement are entitled to registration nether the Indian Act and tin walk connected that entitlement to descendants to the aforesaid grade arsenic those without household histories of enfranchisement.

Enfranchisement was a humanities assimilation argumentation wherever radical could suffer oregon springiness up their Indian status.

The projected amendments would besides address individual deregistration, natal set reaffiliation and membership, arsenic good arsenic outdated and violative connection related to babelike persons. 

It is expected that astir 3,500 individuals could beryllium recently eligible for registration arsenic a effect of the legislation.

But Lance Copegog from Beausoleil First Nation, a younker typical for the Anishinabek Nation, which advocates for 39 First Nations crossed Ontario, said decision-making authorization connected who belongs successful First Nations should travel from communities "because we've ever known who our radical are and I deliberation it's clip that Canada besides recognized that."

"I don't deliberation you hole colonialism by updating its language," Copegog said.

"Our identities, our families and our rights can't beryllium managed done patchwork reforms to what is simply a fundamentally breached instrumentality and a breached system."

More consultation work

Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty said she agrees that it's the community's close to find their membership.

"The authorities has their portion to bash with authorities but the process of coming backmost to community, coming backmost to surviving your location territory, connecting with your members, connecting with your family, that part, that's a existent humanistic part. That's the enactment of the assemblage to define," Gull-Masty told CBC Indigenous.

Gull-Masty said determination is inactive consultation enactment to beryllium done. Initial enactment was done nether the erstwhile minister. 

"It would beryllium foolish to deliberation that you could marque 1 process oregon argumentation to specify it all," she said. 

"So we person to enactment intimately with the communities to beryllium definite that they are capable to person their members successful a mode that is aligned with who they are."

Senator Michèle Audette, from the Innu assemblage of Uashat mak Mani-Utenam successful Quebec, is the pb sponsor of Bill S-2.

Audette said this measure is idiosyncratic for her arsenic her parent was involuntarily enfranchised erstwhile she joined Audette's father.

"[Mom] was kicked retired from the community," she said. 

"When we moved backmost to the community, I didn't cognize she wasn't allowed to unrecorded determination … but the achromatic pistillate was capable to get presumption and her lad was capable to unrecorded successful the assemblage and person entree to education, etcetera," she said.

She said this inspired her to proceed the enactment of the thousands of women who advocated for the instrumentality of their status.

She and her parent regained presumption following changes made to the Indian Act successful 1985.

She said though the Indian Act is simply a assemblage tool, if the Indian Act was removed, First Nations radical would become mean Canadian citizens.

"I don't privation that," she said.

"So that assemblage tool, astatine slightest you tin determine if you privation to beryllium portion of the rank database oregon not."

2nd procreation cut-off

The changes successful 1985 besides introduced the "second procreation cut-off," which prevents radical calved aft April 17, 1985 who person lone one parent with presumption from passing on status to their children if the different genitor doesn't person status. 

In 2009, successful effect to the "second-generation cut-off," the Anishinabek Nation adopted its own citizenship law. Its "one-parent rule" acknowledges radical who autumn nether the 2nd procreation cut-off arsenic citizens.

"By adopting the One-Parent Rule, among different criteria, successful our First Nation's citizenship laws oregon rank codes, we volition determination the Anishinabek Nation guardant arsenic a self-determining federation of radical arsenic described successful the United Nations Declaration connected the Rights of Indigenous Peoples," said Anishinabek Nation Regional Chief Marsha Smoke successful a quality release last week. 

"We cognize who our radical are. I was taught that we indispensable ne'er permission anyone behind."

In the release, Grand Council Chief Linda Debassige said the federation "rejects the imposition of authorization of a overseas authorities implicit our close to find our citizens."