Mr. Speaker, on October 8, 1971 the Federal Court of Appeal passed a ruling on the issue of matrimonial real property rights for Indian women on reserve and helped to set aside a section of the Indian Act that had disrupted the lives of first nation women and their families.
Jeanette Corbiere Lavell, a first nation women's rights activist, married a non-Indian man in 1970 and lost her official identity as a status Indian. Ms. Lavell challenged the Indian Act on the grounds of gender discrimination since Indian men did not lose their status if they married non-Indian women. The Supreme Court of Canada upheld the decision of the Federal Court of Appeal in favour of Ms. Lavell.
The courageous efforts of this woman led to the repeal of this section of the act in 1985 as part of historic Bill C-31.
We must exercise special care in reviewing and revising laws that are more than a century old to better reflect the practical conditions and needs of today that affect the lives of first nations people.