Page 73 - Moose Deer Point First Nation

With the passage of Bill C-31, some sexual discrimination has
been removed from the Indian Act; however, there is some
residual discrimination left, which continues to be challenged.

2. Restoration of Status and Band Membership

Women and any of their children who had status and band
membership but lost it because of sexual discrimination are now
eligible to have their status and band membership restored. The
children of those entitled to restoration of rights are eligible for
the first-time registration of status.

3. Band Control of Membership

The registration of a person’s status under the Act by the federal
government used to give them band membership automatically
and Indian bands themselves had no statutory role in determining
who was recognized as a member of their own band.

Amendments to the Indian Act have changed that. Indian bands
may determine their membership, if they wish, in accordance
with their own band membership rules as long as those rules are
approved by a majority of band electors and Crown–Indigenous
Relations and Northern Affairs Canada.

4. Elimination of Enfranchisement
All forms of enfranchisement have been eliminated from
the Indian Act by the passage of Bill C-31. Persons who were
enfranchised under S.109(1) of the Indian Act for any reason—for
instance, those who gave up status and their band membership
for the right to vote or to join the armed forces—are now
eligible to have their status restored. Their children are also
registered as a person with status within the meaning of the Act.

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