The Indian Act states that if a native woman marries a non-native, than their children cant carry status, but not their grand children. If a native man marries a non-native, status can be carried for two generations. The government is now extending status to two generations for women. This decision came after Ottawa lost a court case against how women are treated differently than men.
This article was published for CBC News with information from Canadian Press. No author is directly referred to in this article. It was published March 11th 2010.
The article does not have any bias as it is not an opinion piece. It is based on factual information.
The article quotes Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development Chuck Strahl. Strahl expresses that this is a ‘gender equity issue.’ Strahl is directly involved in this article as it is his job to represent this issue for the government.
Strahl expresses his point throughout the article. His thoughts are important because he is a person who can change the outcome of what parliament decides.
I wonder how the government knows what to base these decisions on of who can earn Indian status.
I never realized how Indian status worked, and that in 2010 native women were still not getting the same treatment as native men. This makes me question how long it will take for the passage of the bill. I also wonder if in a few years the subject will come up again, and status will be handed out to third generations. This article gave me a really uneasy feeling. I thought a civilized country like Canada would at least have better equality laws by now. I didn’t think they would be pro-longing a case like this. Despite the fact that it’s unfair, it looks terrible on our nation.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2010/03/11/status-indian.html
