Cassandra
Elimination of First Nations ‘blood quantum’ now in sight
Senate vote in Ottawa will be felt in communities, families across the nation as it addresses a long-standing discriminatory policy
A Senate committee voted to pass amendments to Bill S-2, introduced earlier this year, that would have monumental impacts for entire generations previously excluded from their entitlement to full status under the Indian Act.
In Ottawa, on Tuesday night, the Standing Committee on Indigenous Peoples pass amendments to the government’s Bill S-2, ending what’s known as the second-generation cut-off.
The second-generation rule was implemented during changes to the Indian Act in 1985.
These amendments to Bill S-2 would see a ‘one-parent’ rule implemented if enacted into law.
Under the one-parent rule only one parent needs to have status for their children to be able to register.
This would end the practice of blood quantum, which is a discriminatory federal bureaucratic measurement of the amount of First Nations heritage a person has.
If passed into law, Bill S-2 will eliminate discrimination faced by those forced to relinquish Indian status in exchange for the basic rights enjoyed by other Canadians.
The Supreme Court of Canada in 2018 said enfranchisement is “a discriminatory policy aimed at eradicating Aboriginal culture and assimilating Aboriginal peoples.”
Bill S-2 aimed to restore status to a limited group of individuals affected by historic enfranchisement, addressing a narrow legal issue and lawsuit from 2021, but was criticized for not being broad enough.
Bill S-2 aims to address inequities within the registration processes of the Indian Act including Natal Band re-affiliation, de-registration, outdated language, and, following Tuesday’s vote, the ‘second-generation’ rule effectively proposing an end to discrimination via ‘blood quantum.’
The Indian Act defines who is eligible to be considered an Indian for purposes of federal programs and services in Canada.
As reported by APTN, although the Senate committee passed the amendments, the bill must still move through several stages in the Senate and House of Commons before it becomes law.
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- The term ‘blood quantum’ refers to a colonial blood measurement system that is used to determine an individual’s Indigenous status, and is criticized as a tool of control and erasure of Indigenous peoples. In Jeff Barnaby’s sophomore feature, members of an isolated Mi’gmaq community discover they are the only humans immune to a zombie plague. Barnaby explores racism, colonialism, and the threat of extinction Indigenous communities have experienced for generations. (Image: Official trailer)
