Unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and səlilwətaɬ Nations (Vancouver) — The BC Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) is urging the Government of Canada to accept the Senate’s amendments to Bill S-2, An Act to amend the Indian Act, and pass the legislation without further delay to address longstanding inequities.

BCCLA highlights that the Indian Act has historically perpetuated sex-based discrimination, and that this discrimination is continued by the second-generation cut-off rule. This provision creates a two-tiered system of status under the Indian Act, where those with only one status parent cannot pass status to their descendants unless the other parent also has status, regardless of their participation in, connection to, or acceptance by their Indigenous communities. BCCLA argues that this systemic inequality continues to perpetuate sex-based discrimination, denies status to people who are recognized and integrated into their First Nations communities, and will legally extinguish entire family lines from the Indian register within a few generations.

The Senate unanimously voted to amend Bill S-2 on December 4, 2025, to repeal the second-generation cut-off and replace it with a one-parent rule. However, BCCLA expresses concern over the Bill’s prolonged delay in the House of Commons, noting that the Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs has not met since May 28, 2026, and has yet to schedule their next meeting to address this matter.

BCCLA urges the Government of Canada to pass Bill S-2 as soon as the House returns to rectify these longstanding injustices and restore the rights and status to those affected by the Indian Act‘s discriminatory provisions.

Aislin Jackson, BCCLA Policy Staff Counsel, says:

“For 75 years, Canada has refused to recognize the Indigeneity of First Nations people without Indian status, while at the same time creating rules for status eligibility so that the recognized population will shrink and, eventually, disappear. These rules, informed by archaic European ideas, divide families and communities while their effects fall mainly on women and their descendants. Years of work by those affected and legislators have produced Bill S-2, which would stop the attrition caused by the second-generation cutoff. Any further delay in its passage is unconscionable.”