Senator, MP, advocate call on Ottawa to pass Indian Act status law before break

The House of Commons standing committee on Indigenous and northern affairs, also known as INAN, is studying legislation that would change the rules establishing who is entitled to First Nations status under the Indian Act. It was introduced in the Senate as S-2 and initially had support from the governing Liberals.

The legislation was drafted to eliminate some gender inequities in the Indian Act and allow some 3,500 people to become eligible for First Nations status.

Some senators and First Nations leaders said the bill didn’t go far enough. Senators voted unanimously to extend eligibility requirements to allow status to be transferred to children if one of their parents is registered — eliminating what’s known as the “second-generation cutoff” — and sent the legislation to the House of Commons.

Current law uses a formula to determine whether an individual qualifies for “full” or “half” First Nations status. Some First Nations leaders say the formula punishes people over their choice of marriage partners.

Changes to the Indian Act introduced in 1985 prevent the transfer of status to a person who has at least one grandparent and one parent who do not have status — the second-generation cutoff.

All opposition parties in the House of Commons support the amended legislation to remove the second-generation cutoff. Gull-Masty has said repeatedly her government is not comfortable with moving forward with the bill as amended. She said the federal government needs to consult more with First Nations on a path forward.

Consultations have been ongoing since 2023, though Sen. Paul Prosper argues the government has known about First Nations’ concerns about the cutoff since it was introduced in 1985.

Prosper, who introduced the amendments in the Senate, said Gull-Masty’s argument flies in the face of widespread support among First Nations for ending the second-generation cutoff.

“The evidence is overwhelming,” he told a press conference in Ottawa on Thursday.

“One can’t look to consultation to deny that basic right to justice.”

Conservative MP Billy Morin, the former chief of Enoch Cree Nation, said more than 4,000 letters have been sent to INAN demanding that the federal government pass the legislation as-is. He introduced a motion in the committee Thursday calling for debate to end and for clause-by-clause consideration to begin.

Prosper said Thursday some 500 First Nations have signalled their support for the bill, while another 14,298 people signed an e-petition calling for its passage.

That petition was launched by MP Lori Idlout before she crossed the floor from the NDP to the Liberals earlier this year. Since joining the governing Liberals, Idlout has said her position on the legislation has changed.

NDP Leah Gazan, who worked closely with Idlout on Indigenous issues while they were in the same party, said Idlout’s about-face on the bill “is unconscionable.”

“I would encourage her to stay true to the promises she made to First Nations women across the country when she first tabled the petition and not wilfully participate with the Liberal government to … knowingly violate our rights,” said Gazan, who is a member of Wood Mountain Lakota Nation.

“The fact that this government is doing everything in their power to keep sexism and racism in the Indian Act is unconscionable.”

Gull-Masty was questioned Thursday during an INAN hearing about her government’s stance on the bill.

She pointed to a letter she received from the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations in which the group said it was not consulted on S-2. The sections she read aloud did not indicate that the Confederacy does not support removing the second-generation cutoff.

Gull-Masty’s office later told The Canadian Press the letter does not say the confederacy is opposed to changes.

Gazan said that even if there is some disagreement on the way forward, democracy should prevail.

“Certainly as Indigenous Peoples we have opinions that we agree on and disagree on. That’s called a democracy,” she said.

“Even if that was true, the majority of First Nations support ending sexual and racial discrimination in the Indian Act. In fact, I think the minister will be hard pressed to find Indigenous people that say, ‘We want to continue to have sexism and racism perpetrated against our well-being.’”

The United Nations also has called on the governing Liberals to pass the legislation. In a technical advice paper released in May, the UN said the Indian Act currently has the effect of forcibly assimilating Indigenous individuals.

Zoe Craig-Sparrow, the director of national advocacy for Justice for Girls, spoke alongside Prosper and Gazan at the press conference.

She is subject to the second-generation cutoff and she said she worries about its impact as she prepares to have children with her fiancé.

“When we say this will lead to legislative extinction in three to four generations, we mean of entire nations and peoples,” she said.

“If our government and our prime minister actually respects human rights and international law and doesn’t want the legislated extinction and forced assimilation of First Nations, then they should stop wasting time and pass Bill S-2 as amended by the Senate before the House rises for the summer.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 11, 2026.