The Congress of Aboriginal Peoples is urging Members of Parliament to vote in favour of a Senate amendment to Bill S-2 that would remove the second-generation cut-off from the Indian Act.
The Senate passed Bill S-2 with the amendment on December 4, sending the legislation to the House of Commons for consideration. The second-generation cut-off removes Indian status after two consecutive generations parent with a non-status person, a policy CAP says has caused decades of harm to Indigenous families across the country.
CAP argues the rule has led to the loss of legal recognition, identity, and access to rights tied to Indian status, including cultural connection and the ability to pass status on to future generations. The organization describes the cut-off as government-imposed erosion of identity rather than an administrative issue.
The Senate amendment would restore a one-parent transmission rule, allowing parents with status to pass it on to their children regardless of the other parent’s status. CAP says Indigenous leaders and organizations have long called for this change and that the Senate’s decision reflects that demand.
National Chief Brendan Moore says Canada cannot claim reconciliation while maintaining laws that erase Indigenous people generation by generation. CAP stresses that ending the second-generation cut-off is a human rights issue, not a special-interest request.
With Bill S-2 now before the House of Commons, CAP is calling on MPs from all parties to pass the Senate amendment and end the discrimination without delay.
