Thank you for allowing me to speak, Mr. Chairman.
The Barreau du Québec's specific comments on Bill C-3 in response to the McIvor judgment concern a certain number of clauses, but the two main clauses concern the proposed paragraph 6(1)(c.1) and clause 9 of the bill. We have noted that there may be problems of concordance in clause 2(1) of the bill, that is to say that, in the French version, “une personne” is replaced by “toute personne”. And, from a reading of the present act using this new wording, we believe there are problems of concordance that must be reviewed. We therefore suggest that concordance is assured for this expression in all other sections of the Indian Act.
With respect to clause 2(2), we note that the proposed amendment restates the present test, in both the English and French versions, and we wondered about the purpose of this clause. In a very substantial manner, in paragraph 6(1)(c.1) which would be added to the Indian Act and which, according to the objective pursued by the government, is to serve to eliminate the discrimination identified by the Court of Appeal for British Columbia, we note that this new paragraph concerns the children of a marriage born before April 17, 1985, which introduces a distinction between children born before and after that date. In addition, the amendment concerns only the children of a union formalized by marriage. The bill does not correct the discrimination against children born outside marriage prior to 1985, more particularly children born outside marriage to an Indian father and a non-Indian mother, depending whether they are boys with status under subsection 6(1) or girls with lesser status under subsection 6(2).
The Barreau also wonders about the proposed subparagraph 6(1)(c.1)(iv), which, to obtain enhanced status, appears to require that a child must be, himself or herself, a parent. We believe that this element should not be added as a condition for change of status, since introducing this condition creates discrimination between the members of a single group depending on whether or not they have had children. Whether or not a person has had children should not be a condition for enhanced status. In fact, the proposed subparagraph 6(1)(c.1)(iv) merely enhances the status of children who already have children. The Barreau du Québec suggests that the question of grandchildren be handled separately. We submit that the bill should offer the option of granting status in accordance with the provisions of subsection 6(1) to all children, whether or not they are parents.
Furthermore, the Barreau—