Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I will need to have another look at it, but that's not my reading of it. That 1951 date is a barrier; otherwise it wouldn't be there. If it wasn't a meaningful date you wouldn't have to put it in.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes, it's a very meaningful date, and people born before then will be affected, as will people born after. The last thing I want to say is that as an individual I shouldn't have to decide whether or not I have the right to exercise full equality, and someone else shouldn't be a

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I will repeat that we as Indian women and our descendants deserve to be treated equally. I don't think any amount of consultation will change that, and it shouldn't. You shouldn't have to consult with others to see if I can enjoy my full right to equality. I understand that the i

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  It's not a complex issue.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes, it is a fair comment. In 1985 the charter forced the government to take all the discrimination out of the legislation, and they didn't do it for us. They forced us to take it to court. And 25 years later we finally have a court decision that makes the government do it becaus

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  They just said that it was too much of a problem to fix. Now you have to fix it, because the courts said you have to. I find it quite disappointing that you want to do a remedial again without totally fixing it.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I do have a comment on the issue of status and the issue of membership. In this particular case, we separated those out and are only looking at status and our individual relationship with the government. Whatever happens with membership is not part of this case, so there's absolu

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  It's fortunately not the government's problem. If you want to be registered, you have to get all of your own information and comply with whatever the government wants as proof. Many people out there can't do that. If they can do it and they meet the criteria, they should be able

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Or they don't look at it. We have responses where you get a letter saying “We can't look at it for six years, because we're back-logged that far.” So there are a whole lot of issues and a lot of people die waiting to have that done.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I want you to respect the honour of the crown and have legislation that treats us and our descendants in a respectful and equal manner, and not go back to the other people, the other bands, and ask if we should be treated equally. That is offensive, to say the least, to say my ri

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I don't see why you can't go back further than 1951. Just get rid of that date. We need to have all people born before April 17, 1985, to be in the section 6(1) category, and no one in the section 6(2) category before 1985.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  It's before.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  They should be under section 6(1).

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes.