Proposed Changes to the Indian Act
March 10, 2010 - 2:13pm
More than 45,000 Canadians could be recognized as status Indians under changes the federal government plans to make to the Indian Act, CBC News has learned.
The changes come after Ottawa lost a court challenge addressing the different ways that men and women are treated when it comes to Indian status under the Indian Act.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/03/10/native-status.html#ixzz0hna7C3cq
ETA:
Shawn Atleo, the head of the Assembly of First Nations, said it's a question of who has the right to define citizenship.
"And so here we are again with potentially the federal government acting in isolation and unilaterally in defining who is or who isn't a member of a community when it really rightfully belongs to the indigenous nations to do so."
But Atleo said he welcomes any changes that make the rules fairer for aboriginal women and their descendants.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/03/10/native-status.html#ixzz0hnagUJk2