The Dene National Assembly, scores of First Nations and umbrella organizations want Ottawa to pass legislation that would abolish a section of the Indian Act they consider discriminatory – but an opposition MP doesn’t think the Liberals will follow through.
Bill S-2 – an Act to amend the Indian Act – attempts to address inequities in the act in response to a court case.
The Senate went further and amended the bill so it would also remove a provision called the “second generation cut-off,” which prevents many First Nations people with status under the Indian Act from passing entitlement on to their children and grandchildren.
Delegates at last week’s Dene National Assembly passed a resolution in support of Bill S-2. But the provision within the bill that ends the second generation cut-off might not survive the legislative process.
“A child without status can lose health benefits, school funding, treaty recognition, and a place on the band list,” said Grace Blake, a Gwichya Gwich’in delegate at the Dene National Assembly. “Children in care are the most likely to fall through the gaps.”
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The proposed changes would let status pass on in the same way as Canadian citizenship does – if either parent has status, so does their child. It lets women who were moved to their husband’s band when they married rejoin the band they were born into, Blake said, adding it allows a person to take their own name off the register if they wish.
“These are women and children issues and, every time that I’ve spoken on it before, a woman has come up to me and said, ‘Thank you for talking about that issue. It’s really important to me because I’ve lost my status and I want to regain [it],’ or ‘my children cannot receive their status and … I want them to regain what they lost,’” Blake said.
Across Canada, 516 First Nations have joined a campaign supporting Bill S-2 and, specifically, the end to the second generation cut-off.
The bill is working its way through the legislative process. The next step is for the House of Commons Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee to go through the bill line by line, make any changes the committee deems necessary, and send it back to the House of Commons.
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Given the Liberal majority on that committee, “their votes are ultimately going to determine if the legislation passes or not,” NDP MP and Indigenous affairs critic Leah Gazan told Cabin Radio.
Gazan thinks Liberal MPs on the committee have “made it very clear” they do not support the Senate’s amendments.
Indigenous services minister Mandy Gull-Masty previously appeared at the Senate to urge senators not to make any amendments to the second generation cut-off, as reported by APTN.
Asked if the federal government will support the Senate’s amendments – and when it aims to deal with the legislation – Gull-Masty emailed a statement to Cabin Radio that did not answer the questions.
“Indigenous Services Canada has spent the summer in engagement sessions with First Nations across the country, focusing on the implementation of solutions to the second-generation cut-off,” Gull-Masty stated.
Through this, the federal government “heard many perspectives on the path forward” and is reviewing what was shared to guide next steps, she added.
“I will have more to share this fall.”
Opposition parties support abolishing the second generation cut-off but the Liberals control the House of Commons and its committees, so they can amend the bill to remove that provision or stall its progress in committee.
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A majority government has a lot of power to move bills through the lawmaking process – when it wants to. In 2025, the federal government rushed Bill C-5 – its major projects legislation – through to become law in just 20 days. Indigenous leaders roundly criticized the government for not adequately consulting with them on such a significant piece of legislation.
Gazan said the government is also ramming through the First Nations Clean Water Act (which currently does not state that access to clean water is a fundamental human right). Yet when it comes to Bill S-2 and removing the second generation cut-off, Gazan accused the minister of using consultation as cover for not supporting the amendments.
As of now, Bill S-2 is not on the committee’s agenda. The clerk of the committee told Cabin Radio the committee has not set its schedule beyond dedicating the next two meetings to an ongoing study of affordability challenges in the North.
Both the House of Commons and Senate need to agree on the final version of Bill S-2 before it can become law. This means if the House of Commons committee makes any changes, the bill will get punted back to the Senate for approval.
May 28 was the last time the House of Commons Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee discussed Bill S-2.
Alice Twa contributed reporting.
