聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 The other day as I was perusing CBC I came across an article I thought was rather informative. The author, Kim Wheeler, wrote a piece titled, 鈥淚ndian Status: 5 more things you need to know.鈥� It led me to read one written by Howard Adler, 鈥淚ndian Status: 5 things you need to know.鈥� Both articles have points that overlap, but with National Aboriginal Day having been on June 21 I thought it was appropriate to bring up these misconceptions.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Anyway, many people commonly have misconceptions about what the government does or doesn鈥檛 do regarding Certificate of Indian Status under the federal Indian Act because many people are removed from it, so they are unaware of its actualities.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 For instance you would assume that all First Nations would be eligible for a status card, but as both writers point out, this is untrue as Metis and Inuit people were historically not recognized as Aboriginal people and were therefore not included in the Indian Act of 1876.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 It鈥檚 more complicated than this though and under the law the government doesn鈥檛 recognize certain people as status for various other reasons as well.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Being that the Act is rooted in the mindset of politicians from the 1800s it is actually rooted in assimilation according to Adler, which as a history buff I would agree with. At the time the government was looking to assimilate people and this is why under the act if someone with a status card has a child with a non-status person then their child can obtain a status card, however, if that child grows up to have a baby with a non-status person that baby is not entitled to registration under the Indian Act.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Additionally status used to be passed down according to gender and the status of their partner until 1985 when the Act was amended.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Another misconception regarding status cards is that it gives First Nation people access to free university and no taxes. The federal government does have an education fund set up which is distributed to First Nations bands, but it is limited and there are often more people going to school than there are funds available. Additionally there are standards of schooling to be met such as maintaining a certain grade point average, which means someone may receive help towards schooling one year but may not receive it again the next year.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 One of the bigger myths that is out there includes tax exemptions. Tax exemptions are extremely limited and in a nutshell is specifically focused on goods and services and income only on a reserve. So, if someone is not living on a reserve they are paying taxes.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Finally one of the big ones I鈥檝e heard people complain about in the past is unlimited access to health care, this too is untrue. In fact health care coverage becomes more and more limited according to Wheeler and Aboriginal Affairs will only cover certain prescriptions, dental care, eye care, and medical devices. Besides, all Canadians have Universal Health Care.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I personally don鈥檛 know if an Act created in 1876 is the best one to follow because of the mindset of that time, but this subject is a sensitive one and I鈥檓 not sure if it were to be revamped if everyone would be able to come away happy anyway. Do you get rid of it completely? Do you scrap the 1876 version and update it? What would a 2015 version look like?
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 They鈥檙e questions I don鈥檛 think anyone has a perfect answer to. Canada has become a mosaic of cultures, we鈥檙e a blended society, and we are where we are today because of our history and the only way to move forward is to learn how to do that together. To become educated on misconceptions and embrace that we鈥檙e all in this together.
