Grand Chief to appear before Standing Committee on proposed amendments to Indian Act

11/23/2016

The Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke (MCK) wishes to advise the community that Grand Chief Joseph Tokwiro Norton has been invited to appear before the Standing Committee on Indigenous & Northern Affairs Canada regarding their study of the Subject Matter of S-3, An Act to amend the Indian Act (elimination of sex-based inequities in registration) stemming from the Descheneaux court decision.

The event will take place next Wednesday, 30 Kentenhkó:wa/November at the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa.

In view of the study, witnesses are invited to speak to the proposed legislative changes to the Indian status provisions outlined in the Indian Act and their potential implications. Grand Chief Norton will deliver an opening statement of up to ten minutes, which will be followed by questions from the Standing Committee members.

Grand Chief Norton is on vacation this week but Ietsénhaienhs Kahsennenhawe Sky-Deer Deer, who holds the Membership Portfolio, stated, “Grand Chief Norton will be attending and presenting our arguments on this matter, as it is important for all decision-makers in Ottawa to hear Kahnawà:ke’s perspective on amendments to Indian Act registration.”

“We believe that no nation is entitled to impose criteria for belonging onto another nation, thus creating another form of discrimination and injustice by Canada over First Nations,” she concluded.