Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  When I stated that the bill was resolving all known sex-based discrimination, it was in relation to what the court has ruled to be discriminatory, so the issue of cousins and siblings. As you know, we have also added the issue of omitted minors or removed minors. What we have found through the testimony of the Indigenous Bar Association was that there was another situation, which was actually the result of the remedy that we're bringing, vis-à-vis the sibling issue.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes. I'm sure what you heard from the witnesses prior to this was different situations of differential treatment, but not all differential treatment equates to discrimination. Again, as the minister stated, there are a lot of different considerations that go into determining if something constitutes discrimination.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Currently, 37% of all Indian Act bands are under section 10, so 37% control their own membership. They make their own decisions as to who is a member of their band. Registration under the Indian Act as Indian status does not necessarily give someone automatic membership into a band.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  On that, yes, stage two of these initiatives will allow us to have a much broader discussion around all kinds of issues dealing with registration, membership, citizenship, and belonging to communities, so we'll do that. In terms of your question as to how far back we go, it's quite complex.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  As my colleague mentioned, a lot of these programs, where you're referring to the 2% cap, are programs delivered on reserve that are residency based. We will be monitoring the trends as to whether this particular set of amendments will lead to an influx of population moving on reserve.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Not directly. As you know, the Daniels decision dealt with the division of powers, saying that non-status people fall under section 91(24), so there's no correlation to registration. The connection might be that a lot of these individuals may decide to seek registration under the Indian Act, and if they were to be made eligible by these amendments, we would then be dealing with the same group of people.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  You're welcome.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We are confident. With these amendments, we are dealing with all known sex-based inequities in Indian registration. That's not to say there are not other types of inequities that are going to be brought forward by various groups. We do have active litigation on this. It could relate to other types of issues.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you very much. I'm Joëlle Montminy. I am the assistant deputy minister of the Resolution and Individual Affairs Sector at Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada. You have already introduced my colleagues. I would like to thank you for the opportunity to be here today to provide this committee with information on the government's response to the Descheneaux decision.