By Alessia Passafiume A United Nations panel is calling on Ottawa to make it a priority to eliminate the second-generation cutoff in the Indian Act. In a technical advice paper published last week, the United Nations’ Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples said the federal government has an opportunity to address “forced assimilation” inherent in the legislation, along with sex- and race-based discrimination. Current law uses a formula to determine whether an individual qualifies for “full” or “half” First Nations status, and some First Nations leaders say the formula punishes people over their choice of marriage partners. Changes to the Indian Act introduced in 1985 prevent the transfer of status to a person who has at least one grandparent and one parent who don’t have status — a…
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