Indian Affairs decides on status

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A retired veteran must justify why he should keep his status to the very same Indian Affairs department that restored it only eight years ago.

After living most of his life without Indian status, Sam Sinclair received the benefits he said he's entitled to when he was reinstated under Bill C-31. But the 72-year-old Aboriginal veterans' rights leader was served with notice from the Indian Registrar that said his name will be deleted from the general list. That is, unless he can come up with evidence to prove he is an Indian as defined under the Indian Act.

"We've been working day and night trying to figure out this thing. It [his status] has been extended a couple of weeks," said Sinclair. The office normally only gives a standard 90-day appeal period to protest deletion.

Sinclair regained his status in 1990, several years after two of his sons applied and were granted status. Then in 1995, Sinclair's two sons were deleted from the Indian registry.

In 1998, Sinclair heard from the registrar's office that he is no longer eligible to be on the general list as a status Indian. It doesn't make sense to him. The letter from the registrar stated new evidence revealed that Sinclair is not entitled to treaty status. This was the same reason also given to his two sons when they were deleted in 1995, stated Sinclair.

Indian Affairs states Sinclair's grandparents took scrip, which disqualifies the Sinclair family from having status, but the registrar would not reveal how it determined the evidence it has is sound, he said. In the late 1800s, land or money scrip was offered to Aboriginal people, usually Metis and acceptance of scrip meant extinquishment of Indian status under the Indian Act.

"It's not so much about me, but about my kids and my grandchildren. They deserve the benefits of education," said the determined veteran.

Sinclair's lawyers are seeking an interim injunction.

"The interim injunction is based on convenience for Mr. Sinclair," said Mitchell Besner, one of the veteran's lawyers. The injunction would prevent the deletion of Sinclair from the registry until a court date is set to argue his case. Besner said it is not uncommon for someone to retain benefits while a decision is being challenged. Under his benefits, Sinclair is able to get the essential medical prescriptions that will cost him, if deleted from the general list, about $1,200 a year.

"Is it convenient to take away a 72-year-old veteran's benefits," said Besner.

As far as Besner is concerned, the reasons for the registrar's investigation into the Sinclair family's status are unclear. Even more offensive, said Besner, is the fact that Sinclair's grandmother, who died without taking scrip and who retained her status, is being accused of having taken scrip.

"It would be different if this was a transparent process," said Besner. Indian status is being determined in Canada under clandestine circumstances, he said. He wonders why there isn't an independent body ruling on protests. If a person protests the decision of the registrar, they must go through a unit within the registry to deal with a protest. How does the registrar itself make a decision on a protest that argues against one of its own decisions, Besner wondered.

"When you get a file in protest, you start from scratch. You are very objective. You are looking at each piece of evidence," said Marinda Macdonald, acting registrar at Indian Affairs in Ottawa. Generally the new information that forms the basis for a decision on status comes from a family member, she said.

A detailed letter is written to the individual fully advising them of the reasons they are being deleted. Rebuttal must be received within 90 days, otherwise the name is taken off the list and benefits are stopped, she said.

The registrar is responsible for determining who is entitled to be registered as an Indian under the Indian Act. Macdonald said information is taken from Indian Affairs records and the national archives.

"I as born an Indian and I'll die as one and now the government is going to tell me I'm not," said Sinclair. "We hope it has a good ending," he said.