Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I'm confident that between the House and the Senate you can work out any technical difficulties, if that's what the government wants to do. There are a lot of people.... I could tell you about technical points that could be changed here and there in what the Senate sent you, but

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Let's be very clear on something. The Senate amendments are the ones that Ms. Bennett, when she was in opposition, said were good. She voted in favour of them. The Senate amendments are the amendments that Ms. Wilson-Raybould, when she was a regional chief for the BC Assembly of

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Chief O'Bomsawin said yes, and I try not to disagree with my clients, but I would say that, yes, it's a fatal flaw because what we're asking for is for the government to respect the charter. Perhaps if we had been saying, “Oh, please, violate the charter, Ms. Bennett”, maybe she

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I'm sure they believe they did that. I don't believe they did that. I believe they get that answer by how they frame the question. They get that answer by saying, “We'll only look at sex-based discrimination, and we don't see any, so it's fine.” That's how I can have a meeting w

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Okay. The first point is that, you know, it is very odd to listen to the minister and her officials talk about a nation-to-nation relationship. There was no mystery about the fact that the Descheneaux case was the case of the Abenaki nation. Odanak and Wôlinak were intervenors. T

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  The first thing I should say is that the July 3 deadline is not carved in stone. You were told that you couldn't get around the February 3 deadline.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I have a conference call at noon with Madam Justice Masse and the lawyers for Justice Canada. Why? Because Madam Justice Masse, unlike some people you've heard from, is proactive. She saw the deadline coming, called the lawyers, asked if they would need her, and told them she cou

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I'll try to make my portion brief. The department told you this morning about the technical meetings we had. I need you to understand that we had these technical meetings and brought forward issues. They said that those issues were very interesting, that it looked like we could

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I want to explain. I'm on my second stage two, and if Ms. McIvor were here, she'd be on her third. Let's be very clear. This committee issued a report in 1988. They reviewed the 85 amendments. They said we need to eliminate all discrimination between brothers and sisters. We need

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  The B.C. Court of Appeal said it is discriminatory but justified. You're not bound by that. Parliament is not bound by that. You can undo discrimination, even if a court thought it were justified. The government talks about a nation-to-nation relationship. There was no evidence o

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. Ladies and gentlemen members of the committee, I will address you today in English. Thank you for inviting us. I'm David Schulze. I was counsel for Stéphane Descheneaux, Susan and Tammy Yantha, and the Abenaki of Odanak and Wôlinak in the Descheneaux cas

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  The problems we have identified aren't even in that consultation, and the second stage of consultation is a shopping list so long it will take years to get through. My final point is, having been before it for five weeks, I really don't think that Justice Masse would mind if Ind

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes. There were two cases. I'll try to do this very quickly. It took me five weeks in court. The thing you need to remember is that a 6(1)'s child is always status, but a 6(2)'s child is only status if the other parent is status. You also need to understand, and this is crucial,

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Justice Masse was very clear. She said, “I have three plaintiffs before me: Stéphane Descheneaux, and Susan and Tammy Yantha. I can only rule on their cases.” Then she added the passage that we put up on the screen. She said nothing is stopping Parliament from playing its constit

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  One or two people in Canada would be able to make such an assessment, but we did not hire them. That said, I would like to clarify one point. Just as an extra piece of information, the Government of Canada got two extensions after the McIvor judgment.