MP warns against further Indian Act changes before proper study in House of Commons

A Liberal MP is warning a Senate committee studying changes to the Indian Act that it might end up doing more harm than good if it pursues changes to the Indian Act that were never endorsed by MPs.

The committee is studying legislation that would eliminate some gender inequities in the Indian Act, allowing some 6,000 people to become newly eligible for First Nations status.

Witnesses testifying before the Senate committee have said that while the legislation is a good first step, sex-based discrimination is still baked into the Indian Act and they want senators to make even more people eligible for status.

Liberal MP Jaime Battiste, a member of the House of Commons committee on Indigenous issues, says that while that's a noble goal, the Senate isn't the place to introduce sweeping changes to the law beyond those in the proposed legislation.

Battiste says First Nations identity is a complex topic and extending status to more people without thorough consultations with Indigenous communities isn't the way forward.

He is instead proposing that the committee he sits on study inequities in the Indian Act before bringing forward new legislation to tackle the issue sometime next year.

Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld