Bill C-31er's caught in "bureaucratic nightmare"

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National

Bill C-31, an amendment to the Indian Act, is "grossly flawed" and is leaving the lives of thousands across Canada in a "turmoil" says the Native Women's Association of Canada.

The organization addressed the controversial amendment when representatives appeared before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs, Feb. 23.

In a prepared statement this week acting president, Jean Gleason, said the legislation which was supposed to remove sexual and other forms of discrimination from the act as well as correct the injustices, has not worked.

"As a result, the lives of thousands of families across Canada are being thrown into turmoil as their applications for status are caught in a bureaucratic nightmare."

Gleason says the government bungled when it underestimated the number of people who would be applying for status and has "simply allowed the backlog of applications to pile up."

"It is not uncommon to find a waiting period of over two years for a decision on a relatively straightforward application," says Gleason.

In addition to the long delays Gleason charged that many people have received "unrealistic" demands for documentation and then "providing little assistance to those applying for status."

Particularly hard hit are the elderly who are often asked to find documents that no longer exist, or that may be more than a century old. In other cases some people have been forced to travel hundreds of miles or hire researchers and lawyers.

"Essentially, the government has left the responsibility of implementing Bill C-31 to those who it claims are supposed to benefit from the legislation."

The association has researched the problems and has concluded that much of the discrimination that Bill C-31 was supposed to end has continued.

"Until Bill C-31 is properly implemented, the federal government has merely engaged in a paper exercise," concludes Gleason.