The Senate unanimously voted on Thursday to push forward Bill S-2, including an amendment that calls for the elimination of the second-generation cut-off from the Indian Act. The motion received a 63-0 vote in favor, with eight senators choosing to abstain.
In a surprising turn of events, Paul Prosper, a Mi’kmaw senator representing Nova Scotia, expressed his astonishment at the Senate committee as he read out the amendment aimed at removing subsection 6(2) of the Indian Act. The second-generation cut-off, also known as subsection 6(2), was introduced in 1985 as a provision that prevented children from obtaining Indian status after two generations of having one non-status parent.
Prosper highlighted the historical context behind the second-generation cut-off, explaining that it was intended to facilitate the assimilation of Indigenous people into Canadian society by limiting intermarriage among Indigenous individuals to preserve their status. Originally, Bill S-2 was crafted to address lingering gender-based discrimination in registration under the Indian Act, particularly related to historical enfranchisement.
During the hearings of the Standing Senate Committee on Indigenous People, various stakeholders, including First Nations leaders, advocates, and community members, shared personal stories illustrating how the second-generation cut-off has negatively impacted families and communities. Subsequently, amendments were made to the bill to revoke the second-generation cut-off and reinstate a one-parent rule for determining status eligibility.
Prosper estimated that the amendments could potentially affect around 300,000 individuals over the next four decades. Ahead of the vote, Senator Jane McCallum, a member of Barren Lands First Nation in Manitoba, urged her fellow senators to support the revised bill, emphasizing the importance of standing by First Nations, especially women and children.
Apart from one dissenting First Nation, most testimonies presented before the Senate displayed near-unanimous agreement in favor of passing Bill S-2 with the amendments. The support came from various Indigenous women’s organizations, experts, elders, youth, and individual First Nations, representing a significant consensus across Canada.
With the Senate’s approval of Bill S-2, the legislation will now progress to the House of Commons, where Members of Parliament will also need to vote on whether to accept the Senate’s amendments.