By Lucas-Matthew Marsh, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Iori:wase Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK) Chief Jeremiah Johnson spoke out against the proposed Bill S-2 at the Standing Senate Committee on Indigenous Peoples last week. The bill aims to update the Indian Act by removing outdated terminology and creating a pathway for people to reclaim Indian status due to involuntary enfranchisement. But Johnson argued that Bill S-2 does nothing to address the deeper colonial framework that is embedded into the Indian Act. “It doesn’t dismantle the system; it simply changes its vocabulary,” Johnson stressed. Tabled last spring by Minister of Indigenous Services Mandy Gull-Masty, Bill S-2 would amend the Indian Act to align with the 2021 Supreme Court ruling in Nicholas v. Canada. The bill could allow an estimated 3,500 individuals to…
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