An Act to amend the Indian Act in response to the Superior Court of Quebec decision in Descheneaux c. Canada (Procureur général) (S.C. 2017, c. 25)

Transitional Provisions

Marginal note:Definition of declaration

• 4 (1) In sections 5 to 8 and 15, declaration means the declaration made on August 3, 2015 by the Superior Court of Quebec in Descheneaux c. Canada (Procureur général), 2015 QCCS 3555, that paragraphs 6(1)(a), (c) and (f) and subsection 6(2) of the Indian Act are inoperative.

• Marginal note:Same meaning

  (2) Words and expressions used in sections 5 to 10.1 have the same meaning as in the Indian Act.

Marginal note:Application

5 Sections 6 to 8 apply if the suspension of the declaration expires before the day on which the order referred to in subsection 15(1) is made.

Marginal note:Registration continued

6 For greater certainty, subject to any deletions made by the Registrar under subsection 5(3) of the Indian Act, any person who was, immediately before the suspension of the declaration expires, registered and entitled to be registered under paragraph 6(1)(a), (c) or (f) or subsection 6(2) of that Act continues to be registered.

Marginal note:Registration entitlements recognized

7 For greater certainty, subject to any deletions made by the Registrar under subsection 5(3) of the Indian Act, for the purposes of paragraph 6(1)(f) and subsection 6(2) of that Act, the Registrar must, in respect of the period beginning on the day after the day on which the suspension of the declaration expires and ending on the day on which the order referred to in subsection 15(1) is made, recognize any entitlements to be registered that existed under paragraph 6(1)(a), (c) or (f) or subsection 6(2) of the Indian Act immediately before the suspension of the declaration expires.

Marginal note:Membership continued

8 For greater certainty, any person whose name appeared immediately before the expiry of the suspension of the declaration on a Band List maintained in the Department is not deprived of the right to have their name entered on that Band List by reason only of the declaration.

Related Provisions

Marginal note:Construction

9 The provisions of the Indian Act that are amended by this Act are to be liberally construed and interpreted so as to remedy any disadvantage to a woman, or her descendants, born before April 17, 1985, with respect to registration under the Indian Act as it read on April 17, 1985, and to enhance the equal treatment of women and men and their descendants under the Indian Act.

Marginal note:No liability

10 For greater certainty, no person or body has a right to claim or receive any compensation, damages or indemnity from Her Majesty in right of Canada, any employee or agent of Her Majesty in right of Canada, or a council of a band, for anything done or omitted to be done in good faith in the exercise of their powers or the performance of their duties, only because

• (a) a person was not registered, or did not have their name entered in a Band List, immediately before the day on which this section comes into force; and

• (b) one of the person’s parents is entitled to be registered under paragraph 6(1)(c.01) or (c.02) or any of paragraphs 6(1)(c.2) to (c.6) of the Indian Act.

Marginal note:No liability

10.1 For greater certainty, no person or body has a right to claim or receive any compensation, damages or indemnity from Her Majesty in right of Canada, any employee or agent of Her Majesty in right of Canada, or a council of a band, for anything done or omitted to be done in good faith in the exercise of their powers or the performance of their duties, only because

• (a) a person was not registered, or did not have their name entered in a Band List, immediately before the day on which this section comes into force; and

• (b) that person or one of the person’s parents, grandparents or other ancestors is entitled to be registered under paragraph 6(1)(a.1), (a.2) or (a.3) of the Indian Act.

Consultations and Reports

Marginal note:Consultations by Minister

• 11 (1) The Minister must, within six months after the day on which this Act receives royal assent, initiate consultations with First Nations and other interested parties in order to address, in collaboration with those First Nations and other parties, issues raised by the provisions of the Indian Act related to registration and band membership, including consultations on

  • (a) issues relating to adoption;

  • (b) the 1951 cut-off date for entitlement to registration;

  • (c) the second-generation cut-off rule;

  • (d) unknown or unstated paternity;

  • (e) enfranchisement;

  • (f) the continued federal government role in determining Indian status and band membership; and

  • (g) First Nations’ authorities to determine band membership.

• Marginal note:Requirement

  (2) The Minister, the First Nations and the other interested parties must, during the consultations, consider the impact of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and, if applicable, of the Canadian Human Rights Act, in regard to those issues.

• Marginal note:Report to Parliament — design of consultation process

  (3) The Minister must cause to be laid before each House of Parliament, within five months after the day on which this Act receives royal assent, a report on the design of a process by which the Minister is to carry out the consultations described to in subsection (1).

• Marginal note:Report to Parliament — results of consultations

  (4) The Minister must cause to be laid before each House of Parliament, within 12 months after the day on which the consultations begin, a report on the progress made as a result of the consultations and collaboration. The report must set out details as to the consultations carried out, including details related to

  • (a) issues relating to adoption;

  • (b) the 1951 cut-off date for entitlement to registration;

  • (c) the second-generation cut-off rule;

  • (d) unknown or unstated paternity;

  • (e) enfranchisement;

  • (f) the continued federal government role in determining Indian status and band membership; and

  • (g) First Nations’ authorities to determine band membership.

• Marginal note:Referral to committee

  (5) Each report stands referred to any committee of the Senate, of the House of Commons or of both Houses of Parliament that is designated or established to review matters related to Aboriginal affairs.

Marginal note:Report to Parliament

• 12 (1) The Minister must, within three years after the day on which this Act receives royal assent,

  • (a) undertake the following reviews:

    • (i) a review of the provisions of section 6 of the Indian Act that are enacted by this Act in order to determine whether all of the sex-based inequities have been eliminated with respect to those provisions, and

    • (ii) a review of the operation of the provisions of the Indian Act that are enacted by this Act; and

  • (b) cause to be laid before each House of Parliament a report on those reviews that includes, if he or she determines that any sex-based inequities still exist with respect to the provisions of section 6 of the Indian Act that are enacted by this Act, a statement of any changes to the Indian Act that he or she recommends in order to reduce or eliminate those sex-based inequities.

• Marginal note:Referral to committee

  (2) The report stands referred to any committee of the Senate, of the House of Commons or of both Houses of Parliament that is designated or established to review matters related to Aboriginal affairs.

Marginal note:Publication

13 The Minister must publish every report laid before Parliament under sections 11 and 12 on the Department’s website immediately after their tabling.