More than 270 thousand Indigenous women stand to regain or be granted status rights after a landmark UN ruling made this week.
On Monday, the United Nations Human Rights Committee ruled that Canada’s Indian Act is continuing to discriminate against Indigenous women to this day.
Under the Act, countless Indigenous women had their status rights and those of their descendants taken away for marrying a non-Indigenous man.
Indigenous men, on the otherhand, would transfer their rights upon marriage to a non-Indigenous woman.
Monday’s ruling calls for Canada to not only eliminate this sexual discrimination in the future, but also to retroactively restore status to women effected.
UBCIC President Grand Chief Stewart Phillip says that when he heard the news, the thought he might be dreaming.
He closed his statements by thanking Sharon McIvor for her decades of fighting for this decision.
As part of their ruling, the UN has given Canada 100 days to report back on the actions taken to remove this discrimination.
