Memorandum to Cabinet

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Dec 6, 2023

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Memorandum to Cabinet Issue and Recommendations Do the current policies of the Indian act have the best interest in mind for the Indigenous peoples of Canada? This debate should be up for discussion as to whether the government should make efforts towards abolishing or changing the current Indian Act to help benefit the indigenous people more. As the Indian Act still exists today many changes should be made to provide the indigenous people of Canada with more freedom. Although many amendments have been made to the Indian act since it was created there are still many flaws with the Indian act. Since a lot of effort has been contributed to fixing the Indian Act it is better to continue to fix this current act rather than abolish it. Much gender-based discrimination is still within the Indian Act. although it was amended by the passage of Bill C-31 to remove discrimination against women, to aline with section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Also, Bill C-3 was supposed to fix the discrimination but only made it worse as grandchildren born before September 4, 1951, who traced their indigenous heritage through maternal parentage are still denied status. Another amendment needs to be added to the current Indian act to achieve equal status rights between Indigenous women and men. The Indian act is the cause that indigenous women are more vulnerable and more susceptible to violence. Another bill must be passed that changes the Indian acts points of gender-based discrimination, especially towards the identification of status Indian issues. The minister of Indigenous Services and the Minister of Crown-Indigenous relations need to come together with Indigenous Women's Association to formulate a Bill that allows all Indigenous women to have equal rights within the government and have the right to status. Funding must be allocated towards this bill of at least 100 million over the next 5 years.

Rationale Many issues from the Indian Act still affect Indigenous women today, many still face violence and even are getting murdered due to the result of colonialism. The government taking the steps to recognize indigenous women and men as equal can help put a stop to the ongoing violence. Women not having equal status to men allows room for them to be treated as not equal. Giving them equal status and rights can help stop the violence they receive daily. The issue with the Indian act is it still defines status. While some Indigenous peoples believe that Indian Status has a legitimate place in federal law, others give it less value because status is a legal identity defined and imposed by the F ederal Government rather than by Indigenous nations themselves (The Canadian Encyclopedia). If the Government hires more Indigenous people in the government it can help contribute to properly amending policies regarding Indigenous people. As indigenous people have the most understanding of these issues and are the ones that know what their people want. If the government puts Indigenous people in charge of Indigenous affairs it will help connect the government and Indigenous people into a stronger partnership. The government also needs to work more closely with indigenous associations if they are not willing to incorporate them more into the government. By working alongside these associations and avocado groups they can learn from these groups and understand the laws they need rather than relying on non- indigenous people to control them. Allowing indigenous people to apply for status through elders instead of the government can give them some power back as it allows the indigenous people to have control over their community. The elders in communities and bands would have the most knowledge of who is indigenous and will not have a gender bias over who can obtain status. This can help shorten the rough and lengthy process that the indigenous people face when applying

for status. Proposed Approached and Options At the beginning of 2023 the government, especially the ministers that are in charge of Indigenous affairs should come together and listen to what the indigenous people want from the government regarding the status and how it is affecting them and more especially women. It is unfair to those who are unable to become of status and miss out on all the benefits those of status have. Indigenous people shouldn't be forced to have status through the Indian act; culturally it isn't a part of their belief. According to the Government of Canada “Indian status is the legal standing of a person who is registered under the Indian Act. As a registered person, you have certain benefits and rights and are eligible for a range of federal and provincial or territorial programs and services.” This ideally portrays that the only way the government will acknowledge indigenous people is through them proving themself to the government. Although this is difficult for many as some indigenous could have lost most of their reason to identify because the government passed efforts to erase the indigenous culture. Over the next couple of years with proper funding, the government can join forces with indigenous associations to help the government make the right decisions. Creating a new bill may be hard especially as Bill S-3 was created in 2017 to remove gender-based inequalities in registration. But still, in the Indian act, there are a lot of problems still faced by women especially. Adding another bill can form the risk of wasted money if it doesn't pass in the senate. Also adding another change to the Indian act can cause a lot of time and take away attention from another important issue within the Indigenous community. If a bill may be too complicated there can be other efforts made by incorporating more indigenous people into the parliament. Right now the current Minister of

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