Canada Moves Closer to Gender Equity for Indigenous Women<br />The law gave the Canadian government the power to regulate so-called Indian status — determining who was officially recognized as a member of a First Nation<br />and who was not — and to restrict access of so-called non-status people to reserves, services and legal rights.<br />Senator Serge Joyal said that The problem with any federal government is their past decisions are such<br />a horror story of broken promises you can’t take their word that the commitment will be honored,<br />Carolyn Bennett said that Our government is committed to working with First Nations, parliamentarians, impacted individuals<br />and experts to ensure all gender-based discrimination is eliminated from registration under the Indian Act,<br />The government portrayed the bill as a fulfillment of Mr. Trudeau’s pledge to build a new relationship with Canada’s 1.4 million aboriginal people, although<br />the government is also fighting legal battles with some indigenous groups over rights to natural resources, political control and services.<br />While the minister’s office said the consultations with First Nations groups would focus on identifying measures or resources "required to do this right," indigenous<br />advocates have objected to the postponement of gaining constitutionally protected rights based on a complex process many expect will be difficult to reach consensus.<br />The legislation was drafted more than a year ago by the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to comply with a 2015 court ruling<br />that ordered changes to the Indian Act to eliminate gender discrimination by December.
