2. Women's Perspectives - Christian Aboriginal Infrastructure ...

Michèle Rouleau
Quebec Native Women's Association
Montreal, Quebec, 27 May 1993
Of the applications received by mid-1990, 55 per cent (73,554) of all individuals seeking
registration had been approved, 16 per cent (21,397) were disallowed, 8 per cent were
active files, 9 per cent were inactive files, and 12 per cent were classified as "other
completions". Of the 8 per cent classified as active, the majority were those requiring
additional information from the applicant. Of the 16 per cent disallowed, three-quarters
were denied registration under subsection 6(2), which provides that individuals seeking
registration must establish that one parent is entitled to registration under subsection
6(1). 50
As of 30 June 1995, Bill C-31 had added 95,429 persons to the status Indian population
in Canada, more than half of them (57.2 per cent, 54,589) female. 51 The enormous
increase in the status Indian population did not result in an equal increase in the
population of reserve communities. This is largely because most persons restored to
Indian status or with first-time status under Bill C-31 still live off-reserve. 52 Through its
survey of 2,000 registrants, the study found that 32 per cent of those individuals currently
living off-reserve would like to live on a reserve. To a second survey question asking
registrants living off-reserve if they might return to a reserve or Crown land at some time
in the future, 52 per cent replied in the affirmative and another 15 per cent were
uncertain. 53
Although most Bill C-31 registrants continue to live off-reserve, it is not always by
choice, since it has been difficult for some of them to get reserve residency rights even
when they are band members (an issue discussed later in this chapter). Some bands
experienced significant population increases from Bill C-31 registrants while others had
none. The average band increased in size by 19 per cent, although 80 per cent of the
bands had fewer than 15 Bill C-31 registrants living on-reserve. (It is estimated that 4,600
of the Bill C-31 registrants lived on reserve in 1984 and that 2,700 more had moved to a
reserve between 1985 and 1990. 54 )
Clearly, the full impact of Bill C-31 on reserve communities has yet to be felt. Some band
leaders and community members are concerned about the possibility of crowding and
disruption and have been resistant to inclusion of new band members in their
communities. Services that could be affected by a population increase include housing,
health and post-secondary education.
Indian women have their own concerns about Bill C-31. Women make up the majority of
people reinstated under the bill, and fully three-quarters of those whose Indian status was
restored — as opposed to those who gained status for the first time — are women. 55
Despite its avowed intent of bringing about sexual equality in the status and membership
provisions of the Indian Act, Bill C-31 is nonetheless seen by many Aboriginal women as
a continuation of the sexist policies of the past.
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