2005 Protest organized by Beverly Jacobs of NWAC and Ellen Gabriel of QNW. Note: Senator Sandra Lovelace Nicholas is at the podium location. Photo Credit Jennifer Lord.
After lengthy and intensive lobbying, where there was the call for Canada to remove all the sex-discrimination in the Indian Act that went beyond narrow interpretations of court remedies that would once again fail to resolve all the issues, on June 22, 2017 the government representative in the Senate, Senator Peter Harder, stayed the debate on Bill S-3 An Act to Amend the Indian Act, punting it off to the fall.
When parliament re-convened, it was on November 9, 2017 when Senator Lillian Dyck conceded to the House of Commons. The concession being that Canada’s position was not “if” they would address the broader remedy called for and that the experts and the senate were asking for, but rather Canada’s position was more about “when” they would address the remedy. What resulted is the Bill included the provisions that would eliminate all the sex discrimination against women and their descendants, once and for all, where once Canada agreed to them no new legislation would be needed and all that would be required would be an order in council that proclaimed them as law.
At the time Senator Dyck argued the senate had exhausted its power, meaning all the tools they had in its toolbox. She further argued Bill S-3 was not perfect, but if we tinkered around with it anymore we could stand to lose this important gain. Senator Dyck then argued, “I really suggest that the pressure be put on members of Parliament by groups like FAFIA, by Pamela Palmater, Sharon McIvor, Shelagh Day and the others. They need to take action because they have the power at the moment and we do not. So I would say let us pass this motion.”
We all rallied strong, both the members of the senate and the experts including myself, political icon Jeannette Corbiere-Lavell, the president of Quebec Native Women Inc Viviane Michel, and ally Mary Eberts. Through our collective effort the legal remedy for the broader issue, meaning the “6(1)a All the Way!” clauses that will eliminate the 6(1)a and 6(1)c hierarchy, was written into Bill S-3 yet not proclaimed as law.
In this short video clip Senator Marilou McPhedran lobbies hard for my right, really the right of many Indigenous women and their descendants, for the inclusion of the “6(1)a All the Way!” clauses. Chi-Miigwetch Senator McPhedran.
When parliament re-convened, it was on November 9, 2017 when Senator Lillian Dyck conceded to the House of Commons. The concession being that Canada’s position was not “if” they would address the broader remedy called for and that the experts and the senate were asking for, but rather Canada’s position was more about “when” they would address the remedy. What resulted is the Bill included the provisions that would eliminate all the sex discrimination against women and their descendants, once and for all, where once Canada agreed to them no new legislation would be needed and all that would be required would be an order in council that proclaimed them as law.
At the time Senator Dyck argued the senate had exhausted its power, meaning all the tools they had in its toolbox. She further argued Bill S-3 was not perfect, but if we tinkered around with it anymore we could stand to lose this important gain. Senator Dyck then argued, “I really suggest that the pressure be put on members of Parliament by groups like FAFIA, by Pamela Palmater, Sharon McIvor, Shelagh Day and the others. They need to take action because they have the power at the moment and we do not. So I would say let us pass this motion.”
We all rallied strong, both the members of the senate and the experts including myself, political icon Jeannette Corbiere-Lavell, the president of Quebec Native Women Inc Viviane Michel, and ally Mary Eberts. Through our collective effort the legal remedy for the broader issue, meaning the “6(1)a All the Way!” clauses that will eliminate the 6(1)a and 6(1)c hierarchy, was written into Bill S-3 yet not proclaimed as law.
In this short video clip Senator Marilou McPhedran lobbies hard for my right, really the right of many Indigenous women and their descendants, for the inclusion of the “6(1)a All the Way!” clauses. Chi-Miigwetch Senator McPhedran.
© Lynn Gehl, Ph.D. is an Algonquin Anishinaabe-kwe from the Ottawa River Valley. In 2017 she won an Ontario Court of Appeal case on sex discrimination in The Indian Act, and is an outspoken critic of Canada's land claims process. Recently she published Claiming Anishinaabe: Decolonizing the Human Spirit. You can reach her through, and see more of her work, at www.lynngehl.com.
