Francais

Welcome to the Engagement Kit!

---

As you may know, in 2019, Bill S-3 came fully into force and eliminated known sex-based inequities in the registration provisions of the Indian Act. Today, because of the changes to the law under Bill S-3, matrilineal and patrilineal lines of ancestry are treated equally, all the way back to 1867.

Despite the successful removal of sex-based inequities in registration, Indigenous Services Canada and First Nations agree: there are remaining issues in registration and membership which still need to be addressed.

These remaining issues include:

• enfranchisement
• individual deregistration
• natal band membership
• the second generation-cut*
• cross-border issues*
• voting threshold challenges*

* these issues will be addressed in future consultation, set to commence 2023

This year, the Minister of Indigenous Services confirmed the federal government’s commitment to addressing enfranchisement-related inequities in the Indian Act as soon as possible.

Following through on that commitment, Indigenous Services Canada is working to introduce a Bill in Parliament in the Fall of 2022 that will propose changes to address the issues of individual deregistration, natal band membership and some of outdated and offensive language in the Indian Act.

This Engagement Kit is an opportunity for you to:

• Read about each issue
• Understand the proposed solution(s) for each issue
• Brainstorm your thoughts, feedback, ideas and/or concerns
• Reflect your ideas in writing and share them with the Engagement Team (if you’d like)
• Get in touch with the Engagement Team (if you’d like to)
• Request to be added to an engagement and consultation mailing list, to stay in-the-know.

Thank you for taking the time to review this material, engage with us, and for any feedback and comments you wish to provide.