Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  This was a key issue for us. It was one of the reasons the Native Women's Association came together in 1974. So I think the fact that it's still a key issue in 2010 indicates to us that we still have a ways to go.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Clearly there are a number of things that would need to be done at the same time. We know there are a lot of capacity issues in our communities in terms of poverty, lack of housing, poor water, overcrowding in housing, lack of land. I think those are issues that play into this an

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  The issue you raise is whether the right is contingent on the resources.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We know there will be capacity issues in the first nations, because there were capacity issue when it was Bill C-31. So we have to address that issue in terms of what is the right contingent on, to be a member of your community. Is it contingent on the resources being available,

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We don't actually have the capacity to look at individual cases. We do get calls. A lot of the calls are around land and housing issues. Also some are around people trying to figure out how to get access to the registrar and how to get their status back. But we don't have the cap

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I agree with what Jeannette said. I think the trick to the process is having to deconstruct all the problems that have been caused because of the legislation and the divisions and to have a conversation that is inclusive and based on our nations' concepts of citizenship as well a

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  If we take a principles-based approach, we might be able to get some consensus on the issue. For instance, the concept that families should be allowed to have the same citizenship is something I think everybody can agree to. So if we start looking for those basic, fundamental pri

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  The other point is that we really need to get back to the basics of the importance of the role of women in our communities and to respecting that. That is the fundamental principle that will take us a long way.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I think part of what we need to do is to start reframing the language of the conversation around citizenship so that we don't fall into the categories of who's a status Indian and who's a member. That immediately gets you into a divisive situation. It creates categories of people

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes, I just wanted to say that status membership is a legal construct created by the Indian Act. We're trying to deal with a citizenship issue--who are the citizens of our nations?--through language that's very difficult and divisive. It is a very imperfect instrument for trying

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We're certainly not against having the response to the court decision, which is what that legislation is. Do we think it goes far enough? No. Are we opposed to the Government of Canada complying with the court decision? We're for it. But does it go far enough? In our opinion,

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes, there have been some discussions. We've met with the minister on it. We've met with officials as well. As I understand it, the process is just rolling out. We're not exactly sure what it's going to mean, other than it's a process to talk about views on what we're framing as

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I just want to add the point that it needs to be removed in law. But what we saw as a result of Bill C-31 was that discrimination in application continued. And the reason for that discrimination... We all know what that was. It's not a reason not to proceed with taking the gend

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I think it takes a very long time. But I also think--and Sharon characterized this really well--that it's very cumbersome, and the onus is on the individual to come up with all of those proofs. Some of those records are very difficult to come upon. So it's very individual-based,

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  With respect to matrimonial property, we believe there is a gap in terms of legislation in that area. We had a number of issues with respect to the legislation as it was presented. A lot of that was going to first nations jurisdictions and challenged first nations jurisdictions a