Kwe and good morning, members of the committee and invited guests.
My name is Sidney Peters. I am the chief of Glooscap First Nation, as well as the co-chair of the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi'kmaw Chiefs.
Today I am appearing on behalf of the assembly, which is made up of 13 Mi'kmaq chiefs in Nova Scotia, members of the Mi'kmaq Grand Council, the district chiefs and the Assembly of First Nations regional chief. Thank you for this opportunity to be here today.
When Parliament passed Bill C-31 in 1985, it introduced a cut-off for status registration based on the number of consecutive generations in which one parent was a non-status Indian. The resulting loss of status is not only discriminatory but also deeply rooted in the colonial and racist policy of assimilation. Canadians have a one-parent rule, yet the citizens of our nations do not.
For our communities, the second generation cut-off is real and is a constant challenge. Across the country, we have community members who are falling in love with and having children with people who are not members of the first nations community. Many of us have family members who fall into this second generation cut-off. We are the parents, the aunts, the uncles, the grandparents and so forth of these children, who are treated as less than or not Indian enough. They are not nameless faces or just people listed on federal documents. They're our blood relatives.
When discussing the merits of Bill S-2, one of the chiefs in Nova Scotia spoke about his niece, who is classified by Canadian rule as a subsection 6(2) Indian. She has grown up in the community, and she knows no other culture than her own Mi'kmaq culture, but because of the 6(2) status, her children will grow up without the help and support others received. They will have no medical support and no educational support, and they will be deemed a burden on our system because Canada has limits on who we can take care of.
This is not our way. The Mi'kmaq take care of our own. Our process allows us to give recognition to individuals who are culturally connected to our nation but are not band members or status Indians because of arbitrary rules put in place by the federal government.
This act of self-government does not provide us with the opportunity to provide housing, programs and services to these individuals. This is because the government has ensured that these basic rights and services are limited to whomever they legally recognize as Indian. That is what status is.
Before 1985, non-indigenous spouses of indigenous men were given status, and so were their children, yet indigenous women who married out lost their Indian status, and so did their children. Because of this, descendants of the first nations women are disproportionately impacted by the second generation cut-off.
Bill S-2 is the opportunity to rectify that. We understand that the federal government is worried about the dollars and cents. We are too. Some communities are worried about how Canada will support us in welcoming back individuals to our community. They want to know if Canada will meet the fiduciary responsibilities for the influx of status individuals. Despite these concerns, we know that this is about supporting our children and our future generations. This is about real reconciliation, and this is why we are calling for the passage of Bill S-2 as amended by the Senate.
Wela'lioq. Thank you.