Human rights act extends to reserve land

The Canadian Human Rights Act (CHRA) will apply on-reserve starting June 19 when previously it had not, and according to Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN) Vice Chief Morley Watson the change is going to impact many facets of First Nations communities.

At a January 27 press conference at the Saskatoon Inn, Chief Watson provided news on the changes and announced an upcoming forum to hear chief’s concerns.
“This forum will answer many questions from our leaders and citizens regarding the impact that this legislation will have on our people and our communities. How will this affect the Indian Act?” Watson said.

The one-day session on Jan. 31 had representatives from the Canadian Human Rights Commission, INAC, the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) and the FSIN, who all presented information on the changes.

As well, chiefs and other leadership had the opportunity to simply give their thoughts and opinions, while having no real effect on the decision already made.
AFN was on hand to identify the extent of the preparation, capacity, and fiscal and human resources needed for First Nations to comply with the CHRA, which they will report to Parliment.

Watson said the repeal of Section 67 of the CHRA will definitely impact treaty rights, First Nations governance, and programming, services and funding delivered by Indian and Northern Affairs of Canada (INAC). How much of an impact largely depends on how the Canadian Human Rights Commission, Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, and courts decide to interpret and implement the human rights act.

“A lot of our leaders said that the Indian Act is perhaps outdated,” Watson said. “There’s perhaps new ways to operate, new ways to have an act that helps us govern our lives. We have to approach this with extreme caution because again, we don’t know all the answers right now.”
The CHRA is federal legislation that protects people from discrimination based on 11 criteria, according to the AFN.

“(These include) race, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, family status, disability, and a conviction for which a pardon had been granted,” stated an AFN information package.

The act can be used for protection by anyone working for the federal government, a federally regulated employer or service provider, or in seeking services from any of these groups.

“A lot of times in the past, in First Nations communities, we’ve been able to resolve a lot of these issues amongst ourselves,” said Watson.

“Now, our on-reserve membership within our communities, if they feel they have been dealt with unfairly, they will now have that vehicle to have their complaints heard by an impartial body,” he added.

Watson said specific provisions of the Indian Act may be challenged, especially those dealing with entitlement to Indian status and band membership.

“Our First Nations living under the Indian Act could not launch complaints against anyone. And an example of that is in housing. If our band membership applied for housing and was denied, that member felt that he or she was not fairly dealt with, he or she could not file a complaint against the human rights commission,” Watson said.

Other areas include conflicts in employment, underfunding for child welfare services and on-reserve education, and adequately accommodating band members with disabilities.

First Nations governments currently make decisions regarding employment, housing, and essential services through INAC policy or band council resolutions that are approved by a quorum.

Starting this year, all these decisions will be subject to complaints under the CHRA.