Bill C-3 to help Indian Women restore their Indian status in mass
By siliconindia   |   Monday, 29 November 2010, 19:54 IST   |    1 Comments
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Bill C-3 to help Indian Women restore their Indian status in mass
WINNIPEG: Bill C-3 that claims of restoring the Indian status of those brides who lost status as a result of their marriages to non-aboriginal men before April 17, 1985 can be proclaimed into law as soon as the Senate passes it by New Year. An estimate of almost 45,000 people has been made by the Federal Government to be added to the Indian registry across Canada. The grandchildren of all those women will avail all the rights of being the citizens of India. The House of Commons came to their rescue by passing the changes this week to make the Indian Act and Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom run parallel. The courts have strictly advised the Harper Government to adhere to the decision taken and change the Indian Act. While discussing the progress on the bill, the Parliamentary Secretary for the Indian Affairs Shelly Grover, stated that "I am pleased that this important piece of legislation received all-party support and passed through third reading earlier this week," Glover said. "Bill C-3 will ensure that eligible grandchildren of women who lost status as a result of marrying non-Indian men will become entitled to registration (for) Indian status in accordance with the Indian Act," Glover said. "I encourage all Senators to support Bill C-3 and finally end this inequality." Although the Bill C-3 had been introduced earlier this year, the months of delay had held the bill back. The British Columbia Court of appeal had announced in 2009 that parts of the Indian Act that cut off status from the grandchildren of women who lost the status as they married non-status men and this had violated the charter. The National Organization and Assembly of First Nations has supported the efforts of Federal Government wherein the National Organization has taken another step forward by insisting to grant citizenship for approximately 8,00,000 students in Canada. This has resulted I the overburdened and underfunded employees of First Nations Government to be facing tremendous pressure because of the addition of thousands of people to the Indian Registry.

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