‘Racist provision’: Manitoba organization calls for change to First Nations status rules

A person makes their way past the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

An organization representing 33 First Nations in southern Manitoba is urging the federal government to amend legislation that limits First Nations status to certain descendants, calling the provision racist and discriminatory.

The Southern Chiefs’ Organization (SCO) announced Friday that it has launched an educational campaign—including billboards at airports and throughout the city—calling for the repeal of the second-generation cut-off under the Indian Act.

The federal provision stipulates that after two consecutive generations of parenting with individuals who do not have First Nations status (or are ineligible), the third generation is ineligible for status.

“Fewer and fewer people are able to pass on their status, and that needs to change,” said SCO Grand Chief Jerry Daniels. He added that the provision is slowly repealing the identity of First Nations and is causing division.

Before 1985, First Nations women lost their status if they married a non-status partner, while First Nations men retained their status regardless of whom they married. That changed with the passage of Bill C-31 in 1985, which amended the Indian Act.

“And in doing so, they also created a second-generation cut-off, which really amounts to disenfranchisement,” Daniels said. “It’s another way for Canada to remove the ‘Indian problem,’ and that’s how it’s been phrased… They really need to change this,” Daniels said.

Application of the second-generation cut-off

SCO is advocating for a one-parent rule to replace the current provision. Under this approach, individuals would be eligible for status if at least one parent has or is eligible for First Nations status.

“We shouldn’t fear having children with non-Indigenous people, non–First Nations people. That should be embraced, and the one-parent rule should prevail,” Daniels said.

He said the second-generation cut-off has directly affected the status eligibility of hundreds of thousands of people across the country, noting that calls for its repeal have been around for years.

“People just need to know generally that there’s challenges within the policy that are creating inequity and disparities within our nations. Canada has no right to be telling First Nations who’s not status. We should’ve always been the ones defining that.”

‘The direction we need to go’

In December 2025, the Senate passed Bill S-2, which includes an amendment to eliminate the second-generation cut-off from the Indian Act. In its place, the proposed legislation would implement a single-parent rule, allowing status to be passed on indefinitely to future generations.

“Those amendments need to stay, and that’s the direction we need to go. One parent rule. Anything less is really a lack of leadership and really losing sight of what this policy is doing,” Daniels said.

The bill was first introduced in the Senate last May to address longstanding inequalities within the Indian Act.

It now moves to the House of Commons, which will determine whether it becomes law.

“We need people to call their MPs, and we need to see public pressure,” Daniels said.