Now is the perfect time to end legislated discrimination in Canada

Imagine a scenario where your children and grandchildren’s identity rests in the hands of a piece of paper and government officials who don’t even know their name. 

Put yourself in the shoes of a First Nations citizen who has children and grandchildren who cannot access equitable health care, education, and cultural support services, like the rest of their family. 

Many say that history repeats itself. For First Nations, it just stays consistently oppressive. 

First, the pass system, with an Indian agent telling us where we can and cannot go; then the dispossession of our people to sub-par reserve plots after claiming they “discovered” our lands; and now, the continuation of telling us who we are and what we deserve. 

This dark history is the story behind more than 340,000 status First Nation people across Canada, including more than 30,000 people in 33 Anishinaabe and Dakota Nations in southern Manitoba. Thousands of the people I represent, including my own child, are unfairly impacted by the second-generation cut-off. 

Cut-off is a term in the Indian Act. It keeps a person from gaining First Nations status if they have a grandparent or parent who is not eligible to register. 

The second-generation cut-off does not apply to any other group in Canada.

No other people in Canada have their cultural, familial, and political belonging controlled through a colonial statute in this way.

No other group in Canada is legislated out of existence. Canada doesn’t necessitate proof of blood quantum or familial history to recognize cultural background and associated benefits for any other group of people.

No other group in Canada is forced to restrict who they choose to parent with. 

No other group in Canada must explain to their children and grandchildren why the federal government does not consider them good enough to legally belong to their community. 

Canada has no business deciding who belongs in our Nations and families—only our First Nations can decide who our people are. We have ways of safeguarding belonging. 

Our identities are based on connection to community, lands, ancestors, language, and culture. This collective belonging makes us distinct. 

Severing family and community connections through the second-generation cut-off fractures our people’s identity. Grounded cultural identity is essential to heal from the negative impacts of colonization.

Canada can discontinue the second-generation cut-off by amending Bill S-2, but it is refusing to do so. Instead, the minister of Indigenous services says they need to consult with more First Nations people. 

What First Nations are you referring to? 

First Nations leaders have continuously expressed support to end this discriminatory law. 

The Southern Chiefs’ Organization has been consistent in our advocacy around Bill S-2 and the interim solution of the one-parent rule. This would enable a parent to pass status on to their children regardless of who they parent with, in line with what other Canadians do. 

Status safeguards our constitutionally protected right to harvest traditional food, and to access education, health care, and cultural programming. These necessities are often out of reach for our people.

First Nations peoples in Canada continue to experience poor socio-economic outcomes compared to non-Indigenous people due to systemic racism, marginalization, and discrimination. Trauma is the basis of our over-representation within the child welfare, justice, and health systems. 

Prime Minister Mark Carney recently said Canada is working with our people to build Nation-to-Nation relationships. To do this, it’s essential to end the second-generation cut-off. Our people must be able to access programs and services to which they are entitled. Community wellness, economic prosperity, and reconciliation depend on this. 

Canada, by not passing Bill S-2 as amended, you would be sending a hostile message to our children. It appears that, in Canada’s eyes, not all First Nations children matter. 

If the second-generation cut-off does not end, eventually our Nations may not have children who are recognized for who they are.

How does Canada expect to gain our trust and advance its ambitious economic agenda when it cannot get over its paternalistic grip and respect our right to decide who we are?

The ball is in your court, House of Commons—make the right decision. Choose to be on the honourable side of history and reconciliation by passing Bill S-2 as amended by the Senate.

Jerry Daniels was elected to a historic third term as Grand Chief of the Southern Chiefs’ Organization in 2024, representing more than 92,000 First Nation citizens. A Long Plain First Nation member and proud father, Daniels has advanced economic and social reconciliation through initiatives in health care, education, child welfare, and environmental protection.

The Hill Times