I agree with you about the character of the Indian Act. As a settler, an identity that I acknowledge, I feel a sense of shame that we are still working on this, that it is occupying the time of Parliament, and that it is occupying the time of Parliament to drop a thimbleful here and a thimbleful there, instead of doing a principled reconstruction of our relationship with first peoples. It is more than high time that this should happen.
In the midst of that shame and in the midst of that great dismay at what use we are making of our institutions, I remember what the Indian Rights for Indian Women organization said, which is that they want this to be fixed so that the women and children are back in the Indian band communities, the Indian Act, because it is only then that they can sit at the tables for the consultations that will determine their future. If they are not at the table because they are not status, they can't discuss land claims or anything else.
As far as the Senate is concerned, I think you've put your finger on something very dangerous, and that is that someone will challenge this bill on that very ground after you've all laboured to pass it, and then it will be blown out of the water because it was started in the Senate.