Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
Thank you for the opportunity to address the committee during its review of S-2, An Act respecting family homes situated on First Nation reserves and matrimonial interests or rights in or to structures and lands situated on those reserves.
I am proud to be here today, with my colleague the Honourable Rona Ambrose, Minister for the Status of Women, to talk about the steps our government is taking to improve the rights of families living on reserves.
I will start by asking all of my parliamentary colleagues and Madam Chair to allow me to first express my consternation and incredulity at the arguments I have heard in opposition to Bill S-2.
If I may also characterize this opposition, what I have heard from the opposition party's spokesperson in the House at second reading was a dressing up of the bill with a lot of the concerns that we all share about the situation of too many first nations in this country. Whether it be housing, water, access to roads, access to electricity, access to legal services, or the health of first nation community members, the suicide rate on reserves, or access to education and employment opportunities, these are all concerns that we share, but they have been raised in the course of the debate as reason to object to the enactment of Bill S-2 as law in this country.
Why oppose a bill about family homes on reserves and matrimonial interests and the bill's remedial provisions because this legislation does not address other concerns? Bill S-2 is not about housing, it's not about water, it's not about access to roads or access to electricity, water, or to legal services, or the specific health problems that first nation members suffer from.
This bill is about the rights of married or common-law couples living on reserve in the event of breakup of their relationship, or at their death. It's about an equitable division of the family assets and, in the case of violent and abusive relationships, protecting the spouse, the child and the children, if any, by allowing the court to grant an individual spouse exclusive occupation right to the family home.
After you undress the bill of the concerns expressed, which the bill is not aimed at, and address it for what it really is, you end up with the pure, simple question of the equality of the status of couples and families on reserve in case of conjugal relationships breaking down so their treatment will be comparable to that of other Canadian couples not living on reserve.
Many Canadians are not aware, for example, that in the absence of legislation like Bill S-2, a spouse who holds the interest in an on-reserve family home can, on his or her own, sell that home without the consent of the other spouse and can keep all the money. Or, that spouse who holds the interest in the family home can bar the other spouse from their home on reserve, without regard to the welfare of the spouse and the child or children, if any. Or, in the event of domestic violence or abuse, a court in this country cannot order the right of exclusive occupation of the family home to the spouse who holds the interest in the on-reserve family home, even on a temporary basis.
These rights are available to all other Canadians not living on reserve, whether they are aboriginal people or not. It is simply unacceptable, I submit to you with respect, that in this day and age, people living on reserve are not afforded the same rights and protections as those living off reserve. Individuals living on reserve should not be penalized simply because of where they live.
Yet for more than 25 years, since the 1986 Supreme Court decisions in two particular cases, Paul v. Paul and Derrickson v. Derrickson, aboriginal women and children living on reserve have had no rights to matrimonial real property. For them, the breakdown of a relationship or the death of a spouse or common-law partner can mean insecurity, financial difficulties, or homelessness.
When the members of the Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights studied Bill S-2, they heard first-hand from courageous individuals who came forward to tell their stories about how they have personally suffered the consequences of the lack of legislation governing matrimonial real property on reserves.
Bill S-2 responds to calls for action not only from aboriginal women, but also from international organizations and parliamentary committees. Even Manitoba's NDP government understands the urgency of the situation. At the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba's request, the assembly's clerk informed me that the they had unanimously adopted a motion urging Canada's government and Parliament to pass Bill S-2.
The bill—which I heard in the House—is neither paternalistic nor dictating to first nations. However, I submit that not passing it would be.
Under the proposed legislation, first nations can either choose to enact their own laws related to matrimonial real property rights and interests—laws designed to meet their particular needs and respect their particular customs and culture—or choose to follow federal rules.
By empowering first nations to develop their own laws in this area, Bill S-2 respects the diversity among first nations. They can adopt community-specific laws that may offer different and effective means—from the first nations' perspective—of addressing matrimonial real property issues on their respective reserve lands.
The proposed legislation would also ensure that, until such a time as a first nation is able to create its own laws, federal rules would provide families with the rights and protections they seek and deserve, just like all non-aboriginal citizens and aboriginals living off-reserve.
As a result, all men, women and children living on reserves will have equal rights related to the occupancy, transfer or sale of the family home that were not previously guaranteed to first nation members living on reserves.
More importantly, in situations of family violence, a spouse could now apply, with the benefit of this act, for an emergency order to stay in the family home at the exclusion of the other spouse, for a period of up to 90 days, with the possibility of extension. These provisions will allow victimized spouses or common-law partners in abusive relationships to ask for exclusive occupation of the family home for a specified period of time, providing victims and their dependants with a place to stay.
We have committed, as you all know, to the creation of an arm's length centre of excellence for matrimonial real property, which will assist first nations in the development of their own on-reserve matrimonial real property laws or in the application of the federal provisional rules.
Madam Chair, our government has undertaken an extensive two-year consultation process that included over 100 meetings at 76 sites across Canada. We have had ample opportunity to review, discuss, and debate the bill since it was introduced in 2008.
Time is flying, so I will allow my colleague Minister Ambrose to get in her 10 minutes also.
Thank you.