180-539: The Sixties Scoop , also known as The Scoop , was a period in which a series of policies were enacted in Canada that enabled child welfare authorities to take, or "scoop up," Indigenous children from their families and communities for placement in foster homes , from which they would be adopted by white families. Despite its name referencing the 1960s, the Sixties Scoop began in the mid-to-late 1950s and persisted into
360-451: A high nominal per capita income globally and its advanced economy ranks among the largest in the world by nominal GDP , relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources and well-developed international trade networks . Recognized as a middle power , Canada's strong support for multilateralism and internationalism has been closely related to its foreign relations policies of peacekeeping and aid for developing countries . Canada
540-467: A parliamentary system within the context of a constitutional monarchy —the monarchy of Canada being the foundation of the executive, legislative , and judicial branches. The reigning monarch is also monarch of 14 other sovereign Commonwealth countries and Canada's 10 provinces . The monarch appoints a representative, the governor general , on the advice of the prime minister , to carry out most of their ceremonial royal duties. The monarchy
720-646: A 10-metre (33 ft) cross bearing the words, "long live the King of France", and took possession of the territory New France in the name of King Francis I . The early 16th century saw European mariners with navigational techniques pioneered by the Basque and Portuguese establish seasonal whaling and fishing outposts along the Atlantic coast. In general, early settlements during the Age of Discovery appear to have been short-lived due to
900-853: A brief assessment, and then leaves with all the children at risk. This form of practice often reactivates the sixties scoop in the minds of the community." Walmsley noted, however, that there is a reverse problem of Aboriginal children in care now being often "off-loaded" onto Aboriginal communities that do not have the resources to deal with them, a process that can exacerbate problems in fragile communities by introducing troubled children with no meaningful ties beyond ethnicity. A 2011 Statistics Canada study found 14,225, or 3.6%, of all First Nations children aged 14 and under are in foster care, compared with 15,345, or 0.3%, of non-Indigenous children. Canada's 1.4 million First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people disproportionately experience poor living conditions and substandard schooling, among other issues. A 2016 study by
1080-431: A child wanted to know their cultural identity, they would have to receive consent from their biological parents. Since the government made sure there was no connection between the children and their biological family, they were never able to actually open their birth records. Thus, the children suspected their cultural heritage, but were unable to confirm or deny it with any evidence. The Canadian government started to close
1260-625: A combination of the harsh climate, problems with navigating trade routes and competing outputs in Scandinavia. In 1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert , by the royal prerogative of Queen Elizabeth I , founded St John's, Newfoundland , as the first North American English seasonal camp . In 1600, the French established their first seasonal trading post at Tadoussac along the Saint Lawrence. French explorer Samuel de Champlain arrived in 1603 and established
1440-407: A community in 1998 (though not all were Aboriginal). One Aboriginal childcare worker said "to me it was very shocking ... it reminded me of the Sixties Scoop when kids on-reserve were taken without even their parents being aware of them [being] taken." Walmsley commented that "the condition of victimisation is recreated for the community every time a social worker parachutes into a community, makes
1620-641: A consequence, many children who were placed in homes during the 60's Scoop have their group identity and cultural knowledge stolen from them. The aftereffects of the Sixties Scoop remain an issue in child welfare provision for Aboriginal communities in Canada. Scholar Chris Walmsley notes in Protecting Aboriginal Children (2011) that some social workers find themselves in a similar alienated relationship to communities. Walmsley referred to one heavily publicised incident in which 71 children were removed from
1800-554: A constitutional amending formula and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms . The Charter guarantees basic rights and freedoms that usually cannot be overridden by any government; a notwithstanding clause allows Parliament and the provincial legislatures to override certain sections of the Charter for a period of five years. Canada's judiciary interprets laws and has the power to strike down acts of Parliament that violate
1980-506: A distinguishing element of Canada's political culture. Peace, order, and good government , alongside an Implied Bill of Rights , are founding principles of Canadian federalism . At the federal level, Canada has been dominated by two relatively centrist parties practising "brokerage politics": the centre-left leaning Liberal Party of Canada and the centre-right leaning Conservative Party of Canada (or its predecessors ). The historically predominant Liberals position themselves at
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#17328448854382160-714: A greater quality of status than women. Under Bill C-31, this system became known as the second generation cut-off. Bill C-31 amendments create a new system for classifying status Indians that maintains gender discrimination. Indigenous women's movements expressed that Bill C-31 failed to eliminate all gender discrimination from the Indian Act , and in 2010 the Canadian government introduced Bill C-3 (the Act to Promote Gender Equality in Indian Registration ). Bill C-31 attempts to recognise
2340-479: A husband with status. In Attorney General of Canada v. Lavell (1974), these laws were upheld despite arguments made under the Canadian Bill of Rights . The act was amended in 1985 (Bill C-31) to restore status to people who had lost it in one of these ways, and to their children. Though people accepted into band membership under band rules may not be status Indians, Bill C-31 clarified that various sections of
2520-421: A lawyer for the purpose of making a claim against Canada, and further forbade them from raising money to retain a lawyer, on punishment of imprisonment. Section 87 exempts Indians from paying taxes on two types of property: (a) the interest of an Indian or a band in reserve lands or surrendered lands; and (b) the personal property of an Indian or a band situated on a reserve. The rights exclusive to Indians in
2700-408: A reserve are used or are to be used is for the use and benefit of the band. Marginal note: Use of reserves for schools, etc. 18. (2) The Minister may authorize the use of lands in a reserve for the purpose of Indian schools, the administration of Indian affairs, Indian burial grounds, Indian health projects or, with the consent of the council of the band, for any other purpose for the general welfare of
2880-550: A reserve were subject to a different set of rights and obligations. One needed to descend from an Indian to be allowed to live on a reserve. The tenure of land in a reserve was limited to the collective, or tribe, by virtue of a Crown protectorate . Interactions between enfranchised citizens and Indians were subject to strict controls; for example, the enfranchised were forbidden by the Royal Proclamation of 1763 to traffic in alcohol or land with Indians. The Crown (in this case
3060-431: A temperate climate, with a mild and rainy winter. On the east and west coasts, average high temperatures are generally in the low 20s °C (70s °F), while between the coasts, the average summer high temperature ranges from 25 to 30 °C (77 to 86 °F), with temperatures in some interior locations occasionally exceeding 40 °C (104 °F). Much of Northern Canada is covered by ice and permafrost . The future of
3240-441: A tendency to see Aboriginal poverty as a symptom of neglect, and self-inflicting rather than as a consequence of failed government policies which have resulted in grossly disproportionate rates of child apprehension among Aboriginal people. According to Shandel Valiquette, “[In] residential schools they learned that adults often exert power and control through abuse. The lessons learned in childhood are often repeated in adulthood with
3420-554: Is divided into 15 terrestrial and five marine ecozones . These ecozones encompass over 80,000 classified species of Canadian wildlife , with an equal number yet to be formally recognized or discovered. Although Canada has a low percentage of endemic species compared to other countries , due to human activities, invasive species , and environmental issues in the country , there are currently more than 800 species at risk of being lost . About 65 percent of Canada's resident species are considered "Secure". Over half of Canada's landscape
3600-1019: Is intact and relatively free of human development. The boreal forest of Canada is considered to be the largest intact forest on Earth, with approximately 3,000,000 km (1,200,000 sq mi) undisturbed by roads, cities or industry. Since the end of the last glacial period , Canada has consisted of eight distinct forest regions . Approximately 12.1 percent of the nation's landmass and freshwater are conservation areas , including 11.4 percent designated as protected areas . Approximately 13.8 percent of its territorial waters are conserved, including 8.9 percent designated as protected areas. Canada's first National Park , Banff National Park established in 1885 spans 6,641 square kilometres (2,564 sq mi). Canada's oldest provincial park, Algonquin Provincial Park , established in 1893, covers an area of 7,653.45 square kilometres (2,955.01 sq mi). Lake Superior National Marine Conservation Area
3780-552: Is now Canada for thousands of years. Beginning in the 16th century, British and French expeditions explored and later settled along the Atlantic coast. As a consequence of various armed conflicts , France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763. In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation , Canada was formed as a federal dominion of four provinces. This began an accretion of provinces and territories resulting in
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#17328448854383960-454: Is part of multiple international organizations and forums . While a variety of theories have been postulated for the etymological origins of Canada , the name is now accepted as coming from the St. Lawrence Iroquoian word kanata , meaning "village" or "settlement". In 1535, Indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier to
4140-448: Is similar to the term " Baby Scoop Era ," which refers to the period from the late 1950s to the 1980s in which large numbers of children were taken from unmarried mothers for adoption. The government policies that led to the Sixties Scoop were discontinued in the mid-1980s, after Ontario chiefs had passed resolutions against them, and a Manitoba judicial inquiry had harshly condemned them. Associate Chief Judge Edwin C. Kimelman headed
4320-634: Is solely a federal responsibility and is uniform throughout Canada. Law enforcement, including criminal courts, is officially a provincial responsibility, conducted by provincial and municipal police forces. In most rural and some urban areas, policing responsibilities are contracted to the federal Royal Canadian Mounted Police . Canadian Aboriginal law provides certain constitutionally recognized rights to land and traditional practices for Indigenous groups in Canada. Various treaties and case laws were established to mediate relations between Europeans and many Indigenous peoples. The role of Aboriginal law and
4500-564: Is the second-largest country . By land area alone, Canada ranks fourth , due to having the world's largest area of fresh water lakes . Stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the east, along the Arctic Ocean to the north, and to the Pacific Ocean in the west, the country encompasses 9,984,670 km (3,855,100 sq mi) of territory. Canada also has vast maritime terrain, with
4680-447: Is the question of defining who they are (e.g. who are the "Indians" of the Indian Act ?), and this aspect of the legislation has been an ongoing source of controversy throughout its history. Not all people who self-identify as "Aboriginal" are considered "Indians" under the terms of the act. Only those on the official Indian Register maintained by the federal government (or a local "band list" in some cases) are Status Indians, subject to
4860-512: Is the source of sovereignty and authority in Canada. However, while the governor general or monarch may exercise their power without ministerial advice in rare crisis situations , the use of the executive powers (or royal prerogative ) is otherwise directed by the Cabinet , a committee of ministers of the Crown responsible to the elected House of Commons and chosen and headed by the prime minister,
5040-545: Is the world's largest freshwater protected area, spanning roughly 10,000 square kilometres (3,900 sq mi). Canada's largest national wildlife region is the Scott Islands Marine National Wildlife Area which spans 11,570.65 square kilometres (4,467.45 sq mi). Canada is described as a " full democracy ", with a tradition of liberalism , and an egalitarian , moderate political ideology. An emphasis on social justice has been
5220-644: The Canada Elections Act limits this to four years with a "fixed" election date in October; general elections still must be called by the governor general and can be triggered by either the advice of the prime minister or a lost confidence vote in the House. The 105 members of the Senate, whose seats are apportioned on a regional basis, serve until age 75. Canadian federalism divides government responsibilities between
5400-672: The Dominion Lands Act to regulate settlement and established the North-West Mounted Police to assert authority over the territory. This period of westward expansion and nation building resulted in the displacement of many Indigenous peoples of the Canadian Prairies to " Indian reserves ", clearing the way for ethnic European block settlements . This caused the collapse of the Plains Bison in western Canada and
5580-746: The Battle of the Scheldt in 1944. Canada provided asylum for the Dutch monarchy while that country was occupied and is credited by the Netherlands for major contributions to its liberation from Nazi Germany . The Canadian economy boomed during the war as its industries manufactured military materiel for Canada, Britain, China , and the Soviet Union . Despite another Conscription Crisis in Quebec in 1944, Canada finished
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5760-551: The COVID-19 pandemic in Canada began on January 27, 2020, with widespread social and economic disruption. In 2021, the possible graves of hundreds of Indigenous people were discovered near the former sites of Canadian Indian residential schools . Administered by various Christian churches and funded by the Canadian government from 1828 to 1997, these boarding schools attempted to assimilate Indigenous children into Euro-Canadian culture . By total area (including its waters), Canada
5940-628: The Canada Act 1982 , the patriation of Canada's constitution from the United Kingdom, concurrent with the creation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms . Canada had established complete sovereignty as an independent country under its own monarchy . In 1999, Nunavut became Canada's third territory after a series of negotiations with the federal government. At the same time, Quebec underwent profound social and economic changes through
6120-651: The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives found that 51% of First Nations children live in poverty. That increases to 60% for First Nations children who live on reserves, with poverty rates reaching 76% in Manitoba and 69% in Saskatchewan for First Nations children living on reserves. The study found poverty rates of 30% for non-status First Nations children, 25% for Inuit children, and 23% for Métis children. (Canada has an overall child poverty rate of 18%, ranking it 27th in
6300-783: The Canadian Shield , the interior plains , the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Lowlands , the Appalachian region , the Western Cordillera , Hudson Bay Lowlands , and the Arctic Archipelago . Boreal forests prevail throughout the country, ice is prominent in northern Arctic regions and through the Rocky Mountains , and the relatively flat Canadian Prairies in the southwest facilitate productive agriculture. The Great Lakes feed
6480-655: The Indian Act are beyond legal challenge under the Constitution Act, 1982 . Section 25 of the Constitution Act, 1982 provides that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms shall not be interpreted as negating Aboriginal, treaty or other rights of Canada's Aboriginal peoples. Section 88 of the act states that provincial laws may affect Aboriginals if they are of "general application", meaning that they affect other people as well as Aboriginals. Hence, provincial laws are incorporated into federal law, since otherwise
6660-458: The Indian Act without success. Those changes that have been made have been piecemeal reforms, rather than sweeping revisions. Since the 1990s, several pieces of legislation have been passed allowing individual bands to opt out of a particular section of the Indian Act if an agreement is signed between the band and the government putting alternative measures in place. These are called "Sectoral Legislative Arrangements". The band remains subject to
6840-439: The Indian Act would apply to such members. The sections in question are those relating to community life (e.g., landholdings). Sections relating to Indians (Aboriginal people) as individuals (in this case, wills and taxation of personal property) were not included. Bonita Lawrence (2003) discusses a feminist position on the relationship between federal definition and Indian identity in Canada. Until 1985, subsection 12(1)(b) of
7020-628: The Indian Act , updated to April 2013, the term "band" means a body of Indians (a) for whose use and benefit in common, lands, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, have been set apart before, on or after September 4, 1951, (b) for whose use and benefit in common, moneys are held by Her Majesty, or (c) declared by the Governor in Council to be a band for the purposes of this Act. Fundamental to Canada's ability to interact with First Nations peoples
7200-588: The Indian Department ) hoped, by means of fiduciary duty that it voluntarily took on, to preserve Indian identity. But later the government of the Province of Canada conceived of the compulsory enfranchisement scheme of the Gradual Civilization Act . The 1985 amendment to the Indian Act extinguished the idea of enfranchisement, although by then Status Indians were Canadian citizens by birth . Under
7380-731: The Meech Lake Accord failed in 1990. This led to the formation of the Bloc Québécois in Quebec and the invigoration of the Reform Party of Canada in the West. A second referendum followed in 1995, in which sovereignty was rejected by a slimmer margin of 50.6 to 49.4 percent. In 1997, the Supreme Court ruled unilateral secession by a province would be unconstitutional, and the Clarity Act
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7560-668: The Oka Crisis of 1990, the first of a number of violent confrontations between provincial governments and Indigenous groups. Canada joined the Gulf War in 1990 and was active in several peacekeeping missions in the 1990s, including operations in the Balkans during and after the Yugoslav Wars , and in Somalia , resulting in an incident that has been described as " the darkest era in the history of
7740-544: The Parliament of Canada and the commissioners represent the King in his federal Council , rather than the monarch directly. The powers flowing from the Constitution Act, 1867 , are divided between the federal government and the provincial governments to exercise exclusively and any changes to that arrangement require a constitutional amendment , while changes to the roles and powers of the territories may be performed unilaterally by
7920-557: The Parliament of the Province of Canada in 1857 and the Gradual Enfranchisement Act of 1869. The act was passed by the Parliament of Canada under the provisions of Section 91(24) of the Constitution Act, 1867 , which provides Canada's federal government exclusive authority to govern in relation to "Indians and Lands Reserved for Indians". It was an attempt to codify rights promised to Native peoples by King George III in
8100-539: The Quiet Revolution of the 1960s, giving birth to a secular nationalist movement. The radical Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) ignited the October Crisis with a series of bombings and kidnappings in 1970, and the sovereigntist Parti Québécois was elected in 1976, organizing an unsuccessful referendum on sovereignty-association in 1980. Attempts to accommodate Quebec nationalism constitutionally through
8280-403: The Royal Proclamation of 1763 while at the same time enforcing Euro-Canadian standards of "civilization" . The purpose of the act, as stated by its drafters, was to administer Indian affairs in such a way that Indian people would feel compelled to renounce their Indian status and join Canadian civilization as full members: a process called enfranchisement. The idea of enfranchisement predated
8460-758: The St. Lawrence River (in the southeast) where the lowlands host much of Canada's economic output. Canada has over 2,000,000 lakes—563 of which are larger than 100 km (39 sq mi)—containing much of the world's fresh water . There are also fresh-water glaciers in the Canadian Rockies , the Coast Mountains , and the Arctic Cordillera . Canada is geologically active , having many earthquakes and potentially active volcanoes . Average winter and summer high temperatures across Canada vary from region to region. Winters can be harsh in many parts of
8640-557: The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the Indian Act was not discriminatory, as the pair gained the legal rights of white women at the same time they lost the status of Indian women, in a parallel to R. v. Drybones . In 1981, Sandra Lovelace , a Maliseet woman from western New Brunswick , forced the issue by taking her case to the United Nations Human Rights Committee , contending that she should not have to lose her own status by her marriage. The Canadian law
8820-453: The Westminster tradition . The country's head of government is the prime minister , who holds office by virtue of their ability to command the confidence of the elected House of Commons and is appointed by the governor general , representing the monarch of Canada , the ceremonial head of state . The country is a Commonwealth realm and is officially bilingual (English and French) in
9000-499: The displacement of Indigenous populations , and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom. This increased sovereignty was highlighted by the Statute of Westminster, 1931 , and culminating in the Canada Act 1982 , which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the Parliament of the United Kingdom . Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy in
9180-441: The head of government . To ensure the stability of government, the governor general will usually appoint as prime minister the individual who is the current leader of the political party that can obtain the confidence of a majority of members in the House. The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) is one of the most powerful institutions in government, initiating most legislation for parliamentary approval and selecting for appointment by
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#17328448854389360-421: The matrilineal cultures of many First Nations, whereby children were born to the mother's clan and people gained their belonging in the clan from her family. Often property and hereditary leadership passed through the maternal line. In addition, the 1876 Indian Act maintained that Indigenous women with status who married status Indigenous men would, in the event of divorce, be unable to regain their status to
9540-485: The "double mother" clause, "removed status from children when they reached the age of 21 if their mother and paternal grandmother did not have status before marriage." Much of the discrimination stems from the Indian Act amendments and modifications in 1951. Lawrence discusses the struggles of Jeannette Corbiere Lavell and Yvonne Bédard in the early 1970s, two Indigenous women who had both lost their Indian status for marrying white men. Lavell , whose activism helped create
9720-773: The "grass dance". The dance ceremony involved the giving away and exchange of blankets and horses; thus it breached Section 114 of the Indian Act. As a result, Wanduta, an elder of the Dakota community, was sentenced to four months of hard labour and imprisonment on January 26, 1903. According to Canadian historian Constance Backhouse, the Aboriginal "give-away dances" were ceremonies more commonly known as potlatches that connected entire communities politically, economically and socially. These dances affirmed kinship ties, provided elders with opportunities to pass on insight, legends and history to
9900-514: The 1713 Treaty of Utrecht and Canada and most of New France came under British rule in 1763 after the Seven Years' War. The Royal Proclamation of 1763 established First Nation treaty rights, created the Province of Quebec out of New France, and annexed Cape Breton Island to Nova Scotia. St John's Island (now Prince Edward Island ) became a separate colony in 1769. To avert conflict in Quebec ,
10080-512: The 1876 version of the act and survived in some form until 1985. From the introduction in 1857 by the Taché - Macdonald administration of the Gradual Civilization Act until 1961, the enfranchisement process was optional for men of age 21 able to read and write English or French. The great aim of our legislation has been to do away with the tribal system and assimilate the Indian people in all respects with
10260-548: The 1980s, as prison wardens often denied Indigenous peoples access to materials used for prayer. Starting in the early 1900s, the Nisga'a First Nation started or attempted to start several legal proceedings to take control of their traditional territory. A series of attempts were denied by the B.C. government or not pursued by the Canadian Government. A 1927 amendment (Section 141) forbade any First Nation or band from retaining
10440-484: The 1980s. It is estimated that a total of 20,000 Indigenous children were taken from their families and fostered or adopted out primarily to white middle-class families as part of the Sixties Scoop. Each province had different foster programs and adoption policies; Saskatchewan had the only targeted Indigenous transracial adoption program, the Adopt Indian Métis (AIM) Program. The term "Sixties Scoop" itself
10620-457: The 34 countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development .) Some foster parents have tried to incorporate the native culture of the children while raising them, but the effects of being physically placed in the foster care systems have continued to negatively impact them. One specific example of how the Sixties Scoop affected children throughout their lives is Rose Henry. She
10800-554: The AIM newspaper advertisements featuring photographs and personal and health information about the Indian and Métis children available for adoption. It also includes an internal memo, dated 25 September 1973, from AIM director G. E. Jacob, that recommended as an Award of Merit to a supervisor in North Battleford, Saskatchewan, Mrs. D. Wilson, as Salesperson of the Year. That award was to recognize
10980-429: The AIM program. An unidentified man representing the AIM that Warren interviewed said that the increased adoptions of Indian and Métis children was caused not by prior prejudice but by the increased awareness of their availability for adoption, adding that 170 children up to 10 were in need of homes. Further, the AIM representative stated that four years earlier, "children of native origin" had represented only one in ten of
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#173284488543811160-405: The British Parliament passed the Quebec Act 1774, expanding Quebec's territory to the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley . More importantly, the Quebec Act afforded Quebec special autonomy and rights of self-administration at a time when the Thirteen Colonies were increasingly agitating against British rule. It re-established the French language, Catholic faith, and French civil law there, staving off
11340-405: The Canadian Council on Social Development found that 78% of status First Nations children who were adopted were placed with non-Indigenous families. Raven Sinclair , an associate professor at the University of Regina and a member of Gordon First Nation , wrote an article titled Identity lost and found: Lessons from The Sixties Scoop in which she discusses the broader context of the term: At
11520-420: The Canadian government, in contrast to the treaties, which were negotiated. This aspect was resented and resisted by many Indigenous peoples in Canada. The act was introduced in 1875 by the Liberal government as a consolidation of various laws concerning Indigenous peoples enacted by the separate colonies of British North America prior to Confederation , most notably the Gradual Civilization Act passed by
11700-466: The Canadian military ". Canada sent troops to Afghanistan in 2001 , resulting in the largest amount of Canadian deaths for any single military mission since the Korean War in the early 1950s. In 2011, Canadian forces participated in the NATO-led intervention into the Libyan Civil War and also became involved in battling the Islamic State insurgency in Iraq in the mid-2010s. The country celebrated its sesquicentennial in 2017, three years before
11880-582: The Crown could add land to the British Empire from other sovereign nations through treaties. This led to early treaties between Britain and nations the British still recognized as sovereign, like the " Peace and Friendship Treaties " with the Mi'kmaq and the Upper Canada treaties. During the negotiations around Canadian Confederation , the framers of Canada's constitution wanted the new federal government to inherit Britain's former role in treaty-making and land acquisition, and specifically assigned responsibility for "Indians and lands reserved for Indians" to
12060-423: The Crown the governor general, lieutenant governors , senators, federal court judges, and heads of Crown corporations and government agencies. The leader of the party with the second-most seats usually becomes the leader of the Official Opposition and is part of an adversarial parliamentary system intended to keep the government in check. The Parliament of Canada passes all federal statute laws. It comprises
12240-409: The Department of Indian Affairs. Consequently, the reality of scarce access to essential services and resources amongst Indigenous communities became a primary factor driving the membership process and its outcomes. As stated in Bill C-31, women who lost their status as a result of marrying a man who was not a status Indian can apply for reinstatement and regain status under subsection 6(1). However,
12420-439: The First Nations to education, government and legal rights. Because Britain still maintained control of Canada's foreign affairs under the British North America Act, 1867, its declaration of war in 1914 automatically brought Canada into the First World War . Volunteers sent to the Western Front later became part of the Canadian Corps , which played a substantial role in the Battle of Vimy Ridge and other major engagements of
12600-474: The International Covenant, in concurrence of Article 27. As well, In Article 2(3)(a) of the decision, the Government of Canada must provide effective remedy. Under the United Nations' International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Government of Canada is required in 180 days to fulfill these requirements: to ensuring that paragraph 6(1)(a) of the Indian Act is understood in a way that allows registration of those who were not previously registered under
12780-449: The Manitoba inquiry, which resulted in the publication of "No quiet place / Review Committee on Indian and Metis Adoptions and Placements", better known as the " Kimelman Report ". Multiple lawsuits have since been filed in Canada by former wards of the Sixties Scoop, including a series of class-action lawsuits launched in five provinces, such as the one filed in British Columbia in 2011. Beaverhouse First Nation Chief Marcia Brown Martel
12960-627: The Métis' grievances ignited the Red River Rebellion and the creation of the province of Manitoba in July 1870. British Columbia and Vancouver Island (which had been united in 1866) joined the confederation in 1871 on the promise of a transcontinental railway extending to Victoria in the province within 10 years, while Prince Edward Island joined in 1873. In 1898, during the Klondike Gold Rush in
13140-532: The Norse built a small short-lived encampment that was occupied sporadically for perhaps 20 years at L'Anse aux Meadows on the northern tip of Newfoundland . No further European exploration occurred until 1497, when seafarer John Cabot explored and claimed Canada's Atlantic coast in the name of Henry VII of England . In 1534, French explorer Jacques Cartier explored the Gulf of Saint Lawrence where, on July 24, he planted
13320-700: The Northwest Territories, Parliament created the Yukon Territory. Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces in 1905. Between 1871 and 1896, almost one quarter of the Canadian population emigrated south to the US. To open the West and encourage European immigration, the Government of Canada sponsored the construction of three transcontinental railways (including the Canadian Pacific Railway ), passed
13500-524: The Ontario Native Women's Association and also held the position of vice president of the Native Women's Association of Canada , and other Indigenous women were key actors in generating public awareness of gender discrimination in Canadian law and paving the way for later amendments to the Indian Act that allowed some women and their children to regain and/or attain status under Bill-C31. Meanwhile,
13680-563: The Parliament of Canada. Indian Act The Indian Act ( French : Loi sur les Indiens ) is a Canadian Act of Parliament that concerns registered Indians , their bands , and the system of Indian reserves . First passed in 1876 and still in force with amendments, it is the primary document that defines how the Government of Canada interacts with the 614 First Nation bands in Canada and their members. Throughout its long history,
13860-621: The Saint Lawrence River. Following the British conquest of New France , this area was known as the British Province of Quebec from 1763 to 1791. In 1791, the area became two British colonies called Upper Canada and Lower Canada . These two colonies were collectively named the Canadas until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867 , Canada
14040-649: The Superior Court of Quebec decision in Descheneaux c. Canada (Procureur général)" addresses gender-based inequalities in the Indian Act . Bill S-3 received royal assent in December 2017 and came in to full effect in August 2019. In 1894 amendments to the Indian Act made school attendance compulsory for Indigenous children between 7 and 16 years of age. The changes included a series of exemptions regarding school location,
14220-692: The TRC report addresses the effects of the Sixties Scoop as well that of residential schools on Indigenous communities: The effects of residential schools and the Sixties Scoop on Aboriginal people and their families resulted in generational and historical trauma that negatively affected parenting skills, social values, economic conditions, and future success. This trauma has caused overwhelming rates of suicide, homicide, depression, substance abuse, alcoholism, child abuse, domestic violence, struggles of self-identity, and other social problems. These factors, combined with prejudicial attitudes toward Aboriginal parenting skills and
14400-631: The United Kingdom. The delay underscored Canada's independence. The first Canadian Army units arrived in Britain in December 1939. In all, over a million Canadians served in the armed forces during the Second World War . Canadian troops played important roles in many key battles of the war, including the failed 1942 Dieppe Raid , the Allied invasion of Italy , the Normandy landings , the Battle of Normandy , and
14580-575: The United Nations' Human Rights Committee decision in the Sandra Lovelace case and Charter compliance issues. However, under Bill C-31, women who regain status fall under 6(1) and her children fall under 6(1) status. However, anybody who loses and regains status that is not from marriage falls under 6(2) and cannot gain status [like 6(1)]. This action has ultimately violated the United Nations' International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights through
14760-594: The United States is the world's longest international land border. The country is characterized by a wide range of both meteorologic and geological regions. With a population of just over 41 million people, it has widely varying population densities, with the majority residing in urban areas and large areas of the country being sparsely populated. Canada's capital is Ottawa and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto , Montreal , and Vancouver . Indigenous peoples have continuously inhabited what
14940-617: The United States in 1846 ended the Oregon boundary dispute , extending the border westward along the 49th parallel . This paved the way for British colonies on Vancouver Island (1849) and in British Columbia (1858) . The Anglo-Russian Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1825) established the border along the Pacific coast, but, even after the US Alaska Purchase of 1867, disputes continued about
15120-466: The abortive Rebellions of 1837 . The Durham Report subsequently recommended responsible government and the assimilation of French Canadians into English culture. The Act of Union 1840 merged the Canadas into a united Province of Canada and responsible government was established for all provinces of British North America east of Lake Superior by 1855. The signing of the Oregon Treaty by Britain and
15300-451: The act "discriminated against Indian women by stripping them and their descendants of their Indian status if they married a man without Indian status." Under subsection 12(2) of the act, "'illegitimate' children of status Indian women could also lose status if the alleged father was known not to be a status Indian and if the child's status as an Indian was "protested" by the Indian agent." Further, subparagraph 12(1)(a)(iv), which Lawrence calls
15480-609: The act except for the section in question. The 1895 amendment of the Indian Act (Section 114) criminalized many Aboriginal ceremonies, which resulted in the arrest and conviction of numerous Aboriginal people for practising their basic traditions. These arrests were based on Aboriginal participation in festivals, dances and ceremonies that involved the wounding of animals or humans, or the giving away of money or goods. The Dakota people (Sioux) who settled in Oak River, Manitoba, in 1875 were known to conduct "give-away dances", also known as
15660-477: The act has been a subject of controversy and has been interpreted in different ways by both Indigenous Canadians and non-Indigenous Canadians. The legislation has been amended many times, including "over five major changes" made in 2002. The act is very wide-ranging in scope, covering governance , land use , healthcare , education , and more on Indian reserves. Notably, the original Indian Act defines two elements that affect all Indigenous Canadians : The act
15840-415: The act worked to disadvantage the position of Aboriginal women and can be considered an attempt to demolish Aboriginal families and alienate Aboriginal women from their land. Inflicting gender discriminatory laws, the Canadian government marginalized and disadvantaged Aboriginal women. Section 12 gained the attention of female movements contributing to a variety of proposals for reform. Amended in 1985 through
16020-448: The band they were originally registered in. This occurred as a result of the act's enforcement of the patrilineal descent principle required to determine an individual's eligibility for Indian status. As individuals, Indigenous women were not eligible for status or able to transfer status to their children in their own right. Indian status could only be reacquired or transferred legally by proof of an Indigenous father or through marriage to
16200-452: The band, and may take any lands in a reserve required for those purposes, but where an individual Indian, immediately prior to the taking, was entitled to the possession of those lands, compensation for that use shall be paid to the Indian, in such amount as may be agreed between the Indian and the Minister, or, failing agreement, as may be determined in such manner as the Minister may direct. In
16380-707: The centre of the political scale. Five parties had representatives elected to the Parliament in the 2021 election —the Liberals, who formed a minority government; the Conservatives, who became the Official Opposition ; the New Democratic Party (occupying the left ); the Bloc Québécois ; and the Green Party . Far-right and far-left politics have never been a prominent force in Canadian society. Canada has
16560-433: The child welfare system. It found that Manitoba's non-Indigenous agencies often required single, Indigenous mothers to live on their own, as opposed to in traditional, multi-generational households, to regain custody of their children. This demand goes against the native patterns of child care. In the native tradition, the need of a young mother to be mothered herself is recognized. The grandparents and aunts and uncles expect
16740-451: The children adopted in Saskatchewan and for the past two years had represented one in four of the children adopted in the province. The AIM representative said that though it was not the primary goal of the program, he hoped that the AIM would help people of different races understand each other. In his report, Warren also mentioned that First Nations leaders were criticizing the AIM as an attempt at integration and were drafting complaints about
16920-447: The children of reinstated women are subject to registration under subsection 6(2). Aboriginal people registered under section 6(2) are unable to transmit status to future generations. Thus, by reinstating women under section 6 of the act, the Canadian government failed to completely remove gender discrimination from its legislation, as the children of reinstated women have restrictions on their status, and status Indian men continue to hold
17100-480: The committee saw the AIM program as detrimental to children, parents and the Métis community. They said that the AIM's advertising campaign was racist, specifically because it implied Métis parents were unable to look after their children, portrayed First Nations children as inferior and unwanted, and suggested that any white family could be accepted for adoptions. A CBC News segment in 1971 by reporter John Warren stated that 500 children had found permanent homes through
17280-522: The community, including different levels of government, Aboriginal organizations, and band councils. He got the idea for the term "Sixties Scoop" from a social worker who disclosed "with tears in her eyes – that it was common practice in BC in the mid-sixties to 'scoop' from their mothers on reserves almost all newly born children. She was crying because she realized – 20 years later – what a mistake that had been." The proportion of children in care who were Aboriginal
17460-421: The compulsory residential school system in the 1950s and the 1960s, but the government authorities thought that Aboriginal children would benefit from a better education in the public school system. According to one summary: This transition to provincial services led to a 1951 [ Indian Act ] amendment that enabled the Province to provide services to Aboriginal people where none existed federally. Child protection
17640-606: The constitution and the Indian Act . The case involved whether Aboriginals were subject to provincial game laws when hunting on Indian reserves. The act was at the centre of the 1969 Supreme Court case R. v. Drybones , regarding the conflict of a clause forbidding Indians to be drunk off the reserve with the Bill of Rights. The case is remembered for having been one of the few in which the Bill of Rights prevailed in application to Indian rights. In Corbiere v. Canada (1999), voting rights on reserves were extended under Section Fifteen of
17820-548: The constitution. The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court, final arbiter, and has been led since 2017 by Richard Wagner , the Chief Justice of Canada . The governor general appoints the court's nine members on the advice of the prime minister and minister of justice . The federal Cabinet also appoints justices to superior courts in the provincial and territorial jurisdictions. Common law prevails everywhere except Quebec, where civil law predominates. Criminal law
18000-509: The continent during the North American fur trade . These early European interactions with First Nations would change from friendship and peace treaties to the dispossession of Indigenous lands through treaties . From the late 18th century, European Canadians forced Indigenous peoples to assimilate into a western Canadian society. Settler colonialism reached a climax in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A period of redress began with
18180-499: The country and consists of written text and unwritten conventions. The Constitution Act, 1867 (known as the British North America Act, 1867 prior to 1982), affirmed governance based on parliamentary precedent and divided powers between the federal and provincial governments. The Statute of Westminster, 1931 , granted full autonomy, and the Constitution Act, 1982 , ended all legislative ties to Britain, as well as adding
18360-421: The country, particularly in the interior and Prairie provinces, which experience a continental climate , where daily average temperatures are near −15 °C (5 °F ), but can drop below −40 °C (−40 °F) with severe wind chills . In non-coastal regions, snow can cover the ground for almost six months of the year, while in parts of the north snow can persist year-round. Coastal British Columbia has
18540-470: The country. First Nations consistently fought to resist these policies in a variety of ways, including the courts ( Natural Parents v. Superintendent of Child Welfare, 1976, 60 D.L.R. 3 rd 148 S.C.C ) and with their own policies, such the Spallumcheen Indian Band 's individual by-law to organize its own child welfare program, with varying degrees of success. First Nations communities responded to
18720-450: The demands and rewards of raising the new member of the family. To insist that the mother remove herself from the support of her family when she needs them most is unrealistic and cruel. Membership changes in the new Indian Act also prevented single Indigenous mothers from living with their children on reserves and complicated placements with family members. Mothers who chose to remain on reserves with their children had to first prove that
18900-453: The destruction of their social and political structure which was the norm of the Aboriginal communities. This has also resulted in the disruption of the transmission of knowledge that was passed on to the Indigenous children through the telling of stories and values of families, the importance of the elderly, importance of communities over individualism as is the case in the white communities. As
19080-458: The discriminatory practices of the Indian Act ; that this law discriminates against Indigenous women and her descendants and their right to express their culture. In addition, this decision was also made based on the 2007 Supreme Court of British Columbia case of Sharon McIvor and her son, Jacob Grisner, that have been waiting over a decade of a verdict of their case. The UNHRC's decision has determined that Bill C-31 has violated Articles 3 and 26 of
19260-644: The distinction of paragraph 6(1)(a) on the basis of sex and gender, account for the ongoing discrimination of Indigenous peoples in Canada of gender and sex in the Indian Act and to avoid future discrimination similar to this Bill. Bill C-3 amendments to the act ( Gender Equity in Indian Registration Act —GEIRA) permitted Aboriginal women reinstated under subsection 6(2) to be eligible for 6(1) status. Creating paragraph 6(1)(c.1) registration, reinstated Aboriginal women could only be eligible for registration under 6(1) if they had non-status children. Since it
19440-522: The early 1930s saw an economic downturn, leading to hardship across the country. In response to the downturn, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in Saskatchewan introduced many elements of a welfare state (as pioneered by Tommy Douglas ) in the 1940s and 1950s. On the advice of Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King , war with Germany was declared effective September 10, 1939, by King George VI , seven days after
19620-624: The emergence of a new Canadian identity , marked by the adoption of the maple leaf flag in 1965, the implementation of official bilingualism (English and French) in 1969, and the institution of official multiculturalism in 1971. Socially democratic programs were also instituted, such as Medicare , the Canada Pension Plan , and Canada Student Loans ; though, provincial governments, particularly Quebec and Alberta, opposed many of these as incursions into their jurisdictions. Finally, another series of constitutional conferences resulted in
19800-450: The everlasting impacts of the Sixties Scoop. She felt torn between her two identities, unsure of where she fits in. She explained that "Going through the Scoop left me wondering which world or culture I belonged in: white Canadian or First Nations community. I was torn between the two. It has had a very damaging effect on me; society told me you’re brown on the outside and white in the middle (as I
19980-663: The exact demarcation of the Alaska–Yukon and Alaska–BC border. Following three constitutional conferences, the British North America Act, 1867 officially proclaimed Canadian Confederation on July 1, 1867, initially with four provinces: Ontario , Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. Canada assumed control of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory to form the Northwest Territories , where
20160-519: The experiences of Indigenous children in residential schools and to share the truth of survivors, families, communities, and others affected with all Canadians. According to the TRC Commission's final report, published in 2015: By the end of the 1970s, the transfer of children from residential schools was nearly complete in Southern Canada, and the impact of the Sixties Scoop was in evidence across
20340-473: The father of their children had First Nations status . Additionally, children of unmarried First Nations mothers often could not be placed with families on reserves due to these same membership stipulations. The Kimelman Report included 109 recommendations to address issues that ranged from cultural sensitivity to maintenance of family ties, formal training for professionals, structure of the system, and having records accessible by computer. It went on to refer to
20520-440: The federal government (rather than the provinces ), by the terms of Section 91(24) of the Constitution Act, 1867 . The Indian Act replaced any laws on the topic passed by a local legislature before a province joined Canadian Confederation, creating a definitive national policy. The act is not a treaty; it is Canada's legal response to the treaties. The act's unilateral nature was imposed on Indigenous peoples after passage by
20700-416: The federal government and the 10 provinces. Provincial legislatures are unicameral and operate in parliamentary fashion similar to the House of Commons. Canada's three territories also have legislatures, but these are not sovereign, have fewer constitutional responsibilities than the provinces, and differ structurally from their provincial counterparts. The Constitution of Canada is the supreme law of
20880-488: The federal jurisdiction. It is very highly ranked in international measurements of government transparency, quality of life, economic competitiveness, innovation, education and human rights. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration . Canada's long and complex relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on its history , economy , and culture . A developed country , Canada has
21060-534: The first permanent year-round European settlements at Port Royal (in 1605) and Quebec City (in 1608). Among the colonists of New France, Canadiens extensively settled the Saint Lawrence River valley and Acadians settled the present-day Maritimes , while fur traders and Catholic missionaries explored the Great Lakes , Hudson Bay , and the Mississippi watershed to Louisiana . The Beaver Wars broke out in
21240-441: The formation of a reconciliation commission by the Government of Canada in 2008. This included acknowledgment of cultural genocide , settlement agreements , and betterment of racial discrimination issues, such as addressing the plight of missing and murdered Indigenous women . It is believed that the first documented European to explore the east coast of Canada was Norse explorer Leif Erikson . In approximately 1000 AD,
21420-442: The full legal benefits and restrictions of the act. Notably this excludes Métis , Inuit , and so-called Non-Status Indians . Various amendments and court decisions have repeatedly altered the rules regarding who is eligible for Indian Status. Many bands now maintain their own band lists. Prior to 1985, Indigenous persons could lose status under the act in a variety of ways, including the following: These provisions interfered with
21600-541: The fur trade, conflicts with the colonial authorities and settlers, and the loss of Indigenous lands to settlers and the subsequent collapse of several nations' self-sufficiency. Although not without conflict, European Canadians ' early interactions with First Nations and Inuit populations were relatively peaceful. First Nations and Métis peoples played a critical part in the development of European colonies in Canada , particularly for their role in assisting European coureurs des bois and voyageurs in their explorations of
21780-614: The government of Canada apologized. In 1885, an amendment to the act banned the Potlatch ceremony of the West Coast peoples. The Potlatch ban drove traditional ceremonies underground. A similar amendment in 1895 banned the Sun Dance of the Plains peoples, which was not lifted until 1951. Although lifted in 1951, repression of Indigenous spiritual practices continued in Canadian prisons through to
21960-586: The growth of an independence movement in contrast to the Thirteen Colonies. The Proclamation and the Quebec Act in turn angered many residents of the Thirteen Colonies, further fuelling anti-British sentiment in the years prior to the American Revolution . After the successful American War of Independence, the 1783 Treaty of Paris recognized the independence of the newly formed United States and set
22140-511: The hand of the residential school staff. The lasting cultural impact on First Nations , Métis , and Inuit families and communities has been widespread and extensive. The Sixties Scoop was an era in Canadian child welfare between the late 1950s to the early 1980s, in which the child welfare system removed Indigenous children from their families and communities in large numbers and placed them in non-Indigenous foster homes or adoptive families, institutions, and residential schools. The Sixties Scoop
22320-553: The health of the children and their prior completion of school examinations. The Canadian Indian residential school system subjected children to forced conversions, sickness, abuse and what has been described as an attempt at cultural genocide by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission . The residential school system severed family ties and diminished the transmission of traditional culture, in an attempt to assimilate Indigenous peoples into broader Canadian society for which on June 11, 2008,
22500-425: The introduction of Bill C-31, section 12 was removed and status was reinstated to those affected. The 1985 amendments led to the repatriation of status for many Indigenous women and their children but did not guarantee acceptance into an Indian band. A decade later, nearly 100,000 people had their status' reinstated while bands had newly gained control of membership responsibilities which was previously administrated by
22680-456: The introduction of European cattle farms and wheat fields dominating the land. The Indigenous peoples saw widespread famine and disease due to the loss of the bison and their traditional hunting lands. The federal government did provide emergency relief, on condition of the Indigenous peoples moving to the reserves. During this time, Canada introduced the Indian Act extending its control over
22860-868: The loss of the children as a "cultural genocide." A 1989 follow-up report published in the Canadian Journal of Native Studies by the Manitoba Métis Federation indicated that the situation had not improved but in some ways was becoming more problematic for Métis children. Deanna Reder , a Cree-Métis associate professor in the Departments of First Nations Studies and English at Simon Fraser University , wrote in her 2007 PhD thesis that adult adoptees who were affected by these policies have begun to speak out about their losses: loss of their cultural identity, lost contact with their natural families, barred access from medical histories, and for status Indian children,
23040-551: The loss of their children and the resulting cultural genocide by repatriating children whose adoptions failed and working to regain control over child welfare practices related to their children, which started in 1973 with the Blackfoot (Siksika) child welfare agreement in Alberta. There are about 125 First Nations Child and Family Service Agencies across Canada, but they operate through a patchwork of agreements that give them authority from
23220-410: The loss of their status. Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) documented the experiences of Indigenous children who were removed from their families and placed in residential schools by the government. TRC Commissioners, who were tasked with sharing this knowledge with all Canadians, focused on child welfare in the first five of 94 calls to action in their final report. Published in 2015,
23400-761: The main front in the War of 1812 between the United States and the United Kingdom . Peace came in 1815; no boundaries were changed. Immigration resumed at a higher level, with over 960,000 arrivals from Britain between 1815 and 1850. New arrivals included refugees escaping the Great Irish Famine as well as Gaelic -speaking Scots displaced by the Highland Clearances . Infectious diseases killed between 25 and 33 percent of Europeans who immigrated to Canada before 1891. The desire for responsible government resulted in
23580-659: The mid-17th century over control of the North American fur trade. The English established additional settlements in Newfoundland in 1610 along with settlements in the Thirteen Colonies to the south. A series of four wars erupted in colonial North America between 1689 and 1763; the later wars of the period constituted the North American theatre of the Seven Years' War . Mainland Nova Scotia came under British rule with
23760-672: The monarch, the House of Commons, and the Senate . While Canada inherited the British concept of parliamentary supremacy , this was later, with the enactment of the Constitution Act, 1982, all but completely superseded by the American notion of the supremacy of the law . Each of the 338 members of Parliament in the House of Commons is elected by simple plurality in an electoral district or riding. The Constitution Act, 1982 , requires that no more than five years pass between elections, although
23940-630: The name of the national holiday was changed from Dominion Day to Canada Day . The first inhabitants of North America are generally hypothesized to have migrated from Siberia by way of the Bering land bridge and arrived at least 14,000 years ago. The Paleo-Indian archeological sites at Old Crow Flats and Bluefish Caves are two of the oldest sites of human habitation in Canada. The characteristics of Indigenous societies included permanent settlements, agriculture, complex societal hierarchies, and trading networks. Some of these cultures had collapsed by
24120-568: The next generation, and were a core part of Aboriginal resistance to assimilation. It is estimated that between 1900 and 1904, 50 Aboriginal people were arrested and 20 were convicted for their involvement in such dances. The Indian Act was amended in 1951 to allow religious ceremonies, including the "give-away dance". In R. v. Jim (1915), the British Columbia Supreme Court found that Aboriginal hunting on Indian reserves should be considered under federal jurisdiction under both
24300-533: The number of children from these communities who are up for adoption because of the rise in illegitimate births and marriage breakdowns among Indian and Métis people. The government had been taking in nearly 200 children each year as wards of the state and was having difficulty finding permanent homes for them. The news report portrayed the AIM program as a solution to the problem and focused on its quantifiable results by placing 100 children, including several family groups of children, in its first year. When CBC News ran
24480-453: The number of children that she made wards of the province and eligible for adoption. In 1977, about 15,500 Indigenous children were in the care of child welfare authorities, an estimate based on data from Indian and Northern Affairs , Health and Welfare Canada , Statistics Canada , and provincial departments of social services. They represented 20% of all Canadian children living in care, even though Indigenous children made up less than 5% of
24660-627: The other inhabitants of the Dominion as speedily as they are fit to change. John A Macdonald, 1887 Reserves, under this legislation, were islands within Canada to which were attached a different set of Indigenous rights. "Enfranchisement" derives from the idea of "franchise", which has gradually been degraded as "vote". Indigenous people with the franchise became official citizens of Canada (or British subjects before 1947), were allowed to vote for representatives, were expected to pay taxes, and lived "off-reserve". By contrast, groups of people who lived on
24840-552: The permafrost is uncertain because the Arctic has been warming at three times the global average as a result of climate change in Canada . Canada's annual average temperature over land has risen by 1.7 °C (3.1 °F), with changes ranging from 1.1 to 2.3 °C (2.0 to 4.1 °F) in various regions, since 1948. The rate of warming has been higher across the North and in the Prairies. In
25020-509: The population of Saskatchewan, but their children accounted for 41.9% of all children in foster homes in the province. In 1971, the Métis Society in Saskatoon formed a Métis Foster Home Committee, led by Howard Adams , Phyllis Trochie, Nora Thibodeau, and Vicki Raceme. Its purpose was to challenge the AIM program and research the creation of a Métis-controlled foster home program. Those leading
25200-404: The practices of its social workers and agencies: Rather, it is believed that every level of personnel in the child welfare system has been so free of examination for so long that the least attention was viewed as negative criticism. Staff seemed unable to recognize that public examination of the system was long overdue. The Report included the following allegations against child welfare policies in
25380-433: The process within as few as 10 weeks. The original AIM program ran through 1969 and resulted in an increased interest in transracial adoptions. The focus of the program was broadened in 1970 to include all children, but it continued to over-represent First Nations children given the high number that were taken into custody by social workers in Saskatchewan. For example, in 1969, Indian and Métis people represented only 7.5% of
25560-448: The program to bring to federal and provincial leaders. A CBC Radio podcast series, Missing and Murdered: Finding Cleo , takes an in-depth look at the experience of a Cree girl named Cleopatra (Cleo) Nicotine Semaganis. In 1974, at the age of nine, Cleo was removed from her family in Saskatchewan as part of the AIM program. The family never saw her again and wanted to know what had happened to her. The series website includes images of
25740-470: The province: The native people of Manitoba had charged that the interpretation of the term "best interest of the child" had been wrought with cultural bias in a system dominated by white, middle class workers, boards of directors, administrators, lawyers and judges. They also alleged that in application of the legislation, there were many factors which were crucially important to the native people which had been ignored, misinterpreted, or simply not recognized by
25920-488: The provinces collect more revenue than the federal government, equalization payments are made by the federal government to ensure reasonably uniform standards of services and taxation are kept between the richer and poorer provinces. The major difference between a Canadian province and a territory is that provinces receive their sovereignty from the Crown and power and authority from the Constitution Act, 1867 , whereas territorial governments have powers delegated to them by
26100-431: The provincial government to provide services and funding from the federal government. Funded by the Canadian and Saskatchewan governments, the Adopt Indian Métis ( AIM ) was a program that was started to promote the adoption of First Nations children by middle-class white families in 1967. The project was started by Otto Driedger , who later become Director of Child Welfare for Saskatchewan, and Frank Dornstauder . AIM
26280-728: The provincial laws would be unconstitutional. In Kruger and al. v. The Queen (1978), the Supreme Court found that provincial laws with a more significant impact on Aboriginals than other people can be upheld, as "There are few laws which have a uniform impact." Constitutional scholar Peter Hogg argues that in Dick v. The Queen (1985), the Supreme Court "changed its mind about the scope of s. 88." Section 88 could now protect provincial laws relating to primary Aboriginal issues and even limiting Aboriginal rights. Numerous failed attempts have been made by Canadian parliamentarians to repeal or replace
26460-472: The removal of their children. A judicial inquiry over the "Sixties Scoop" in Manitoba was headed by Associate Chief Judge Edwin C. Kimelman . The inquiry resulted in the 1985 publication of "No quiet place / Review Committee on Indian and Metis Adoptions and Placements", better known as the " Kimelman Report ". The Kimelman Report was a strong critique of both the existing child welfare system in Manitoba and
26640-592: The result that many survivors of the residential school system often inflict abuse on their own children.” Stereotypes about Indigenous people lead child welfare workers to more quickly decide to remove children from contemporary homes. Stereotypes around First Nations addiction are frequently repeated with no discussion of the trauma created by government policies like the Sixties Scoop. The negative impact of scooping children away from their families can never be overstated. Such action of kidnapping kids and keeping them away from practicing their cultural values has resulted in
26820-807: The rights they support were reaffirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982 . These rights may include provision of services, such as healthcare through the Indian Health Transfer Policy , and exemption from taxation. Canada is a federation composed of 10 federated states , called provinces, and three federal territories . These may be grouped into four main regions : Western Canada , Central Canada , Atlantic Canada , and Northern Canada ( Eastern Canada refers to Central Canada and Atlantic Canada together). Provinces and territories have responsibility for social programs such as healthcare , education , and social programs , as well as administration of justice (but not criminal law). Although
27000-402: The same time as we may be alarmed by the statistics, it is important to recognize that the Sixties Scoop was not a specific child welfare program or policy. It names one segment of a larger period in Aboriginal child welfare history where, because questionable apprehensions and adoptions figured prominently, a label was applied. The "Sixties Scoop" has evolved as a descriptor that is now applied to
27180-406: The section entitled "Reserves" in the Indian Act , reserves are said "to be held for use and benefit of Indians. 18. (1) Subject to this Act, reserves are held by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of the respective bands for which they were set apart, and subject to this Act and to the terms of any treaty or surrender, the Governor in Council may determine whether any purpose for which lands in
27360-482: The segment, all of the children remained with their adoptive families. The program advertised the availability of the Indian and the Métis children for adoption by a marketing campaign with radio, television, and newspaper advertising. The large photographs of these children that ran in provincial newspapers with the AIM advertisements were said to be the most effective aspect of its outreach to prospective families. The program also promised fast adoptions, with completion of
27540-444: The settlement to be rejected unless it includes all Indigenous people who were taken from their homes and forcibly adopted. The beginning of the Sixties Scoop coincided with Indigenous families dealing with the fall-out of the residential school project which had negative results on their social, economic, and living conditions. The school system was in effect until 1996, when the last school closed. Canada's residential school system
27720-740: The southeast. Canada is also home to the world's northernmost settlement, Canadian Forces Station Alert , on the northern tip of Ellesmere Island —latitude 82.5°N—which lies 817 kilometres (508 mi) from the North Pole. In latitude, Canada's most northerly point of land is Cape Columbia in Nunavut at 83°6′41″N, with its southern extreme at Middle Island in Lake Erie at 41°40′53″N. In longitude, Canada's land extends from Cape Spear , Newfoundland, at 52°37'W, to Mount St. Elias , Yukon Territory, at 141°W. Canada can be divided into seven physiographic regions:
27900-422: The southern regions of Canada, air pollution from both Canada and the United States—caused by metal smelting, burning coal to power utilities, and vehicle emissions—has resulted in acid rain , which has severely impacted waterways, forest growth, and agricultural productivity. Canada is one of the largest greenhouse gas emitters globally , with emissions increased by 16.5 percent between 1990 and 2022. Canada
28080-411: The struggle of the First Nations people's self-identity that still affects them up to this day. Canada Canada is a country in North America . Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean , making it the world's second-largest country by total area , with the world's longest coastline . Its border with
28260-438: The terms of peace, ceding British North American territories south of the Great Lakes and east of the Mississippi River to the new country. The American war of independence also caused a large out-migration of Loyalists , the settlers who had fought against American independence. Many moved to Canada, particularly Atlantic Canada, where their arrival changed the demographic distribution of the existing territories. New Brunswick
28440-446: The time European explorers arrived in the late 15th and early 16th centuries and have only been discovered through archeological investigations. Indigenous peoples in present-day Canada include the First Nations , Inuit , and Métis , the last being of mixed descent who originated in the mid-17th century when First Nations people married European settlers and subsequently developed their own identity. The Indigenous population at
28620-446: The time of the first European settlements is estimated to have been between 200,000 and two million, with a figure of 500,000 accepted by Canada's Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples . As a consequence of European colonization, the Indigenous population declined by forty to eighty percent. The decline is attributed to several causes, including the transfer of European diseases , to which they had no natural immunity, conflicts over
28800-465: The total child population. In 1983, Patrick Johnston, then a program director at the Canadian Council on Social Development, coined the term "Sixties Scoop" in a report on Aboriginal child welfare, titled "Native Children and the Child Welfare System". His research found that Aboriginal children were being disproportionately taken into the child welfare system. Johnston, in researching his report, collected statistical data from various stakeholders within
28980-410: The village of Stadacona . Cartier later used the word Canada to refer not only to that particular village but to the entire area subject to Donnacona (the chief at Stadacona); by 1545, European books and maps had begun referring to this small region along the Saint Lawrence River as Canada . From the 16th to the early 18th century, Canada referred to the part of New France that lay along
29160-423: The war with a large army and strong economy. The financial crisis of the Great Depression led the Dominion of Newfoundland to relinquish responsible government in 1934 and become a Crown colony ruled by a British governor. After two referendums , Newfoundlanders voted to join Canada in 1949 as a province. Canada's post-war economic growth, combined with the policies of successive Liberal governments, led to
29340-428: The war. The Conscription Crisis of 1917 erupted when the Unionist Cabinet's proposal to augment the military's dwindling number of active members with conscription was met with vehement objections from French-speaking Quebecers. In 1919, Canada joined the League of Nations independently of Britain, and the Statute of Westminster, 1931 , affirmed Canada's independence. The Great Depression in Canada during
29520-421: The whole of the Aboriginal child welfare era, simplistically defined here as roughly the time from the waning of residential schools to the mid-1980s period of child welfare devolution and last closings of Indian residential schools ... The white social worker, following on the heels of the missionary, the priest and the Indian agent, was convinced that the only hope for the salvation of the Indian people lay in
29700-410: The world's longest coastline of 243,042 kilometres (151,019 mi). In addition to sharing the world's largest land border with the United States —spanning 8,891 km (5,525 mi) —Canada shares a land border with Greenland (and hence the Kingdom of Denmark ) to the northeast, on Hans Island , and a maritime boundary with France 's overseas collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon to
29880-472: Was 40–50% in Alberta ; 60–70% in Saskatchewan ; and 50–60% in Manitoba . According to the Aboriginal Justice Implementation Commission , "Johnston estimated that, across Canada, Aboriginal children were 4.5 times more likely than non-Aboriginal children to be in the care of child welfare authorities." Similar findings have been reported by other experts. Most of the children who were removed by social workers did not return to their communities. A 1980 study by
30060-427: Was adopted as the legal name for the new country at the London Conference and the word dominion was conferred as the country's title. By the 1950s, the term Dominion of Canada was no longer used by the United Kingdom, which considered Canada a "realm of the Commonwealth". The Canada Act 1982 , which brought the Constitution of Canada fully under Canadian control, referred only to Canada . Later that year,
30240-805: Was amended in 1985. The Canadian government applied gender bias requirements to the legal status of Aboriginal peoples in Canada. First passed as part of the Gradual Enfranchisement Act , a status Indian woman who married a man who was not a status Indian became non-status. Without legal status, Aboriginal women are unable to access treaty benefits, practice inherent rights to live on their reserve, inherit family property or be buried on reserve with ancestors. Restricted from access to their native community, Aboriginal women without legal status were unable to participate in ceremonies and rituals on their traditional land. However, these conditions did not apply to status Indian men who married non-status women; these men were able to keep their status. Section 12, paragraph 1(b) of
30420-426: Was brought up in a white home). I was confused and lost, and it was this path that ultimately led me to my life on the streets." In other cases, adoptive or foster parents would lie to the children by telling them they were Italian or French instead. This was another example of disconnecting these children from their culture and the extent they have gone through in order to inflict cultural genocide. This has compounded
30600-426: Was coined in the early 1980s by social workers in the British Columbia Department of Social Welfare to describe their own department's practice of child apprehension. The phrase first appears in print in a 1983 report commissioned by the Canadian Council on Social Development, titled "Native Children and the Child Welfare System", in which researcher Patrick Johnston noted the source for the term and adopted its usage. It
30780-662: Was further precipitated by the introduction of child welfare services on reserves where social workers argued that Indigenous children were not offered equal services on reserves as non-Indigenous children through provincial social services. During the Sixties Scoop, children were forcibly apprehended from their Native land and community for an extended period of time, often without knowledge or consent from their families or tribes. Siblings were often intentionally sent to different regions in order to eliminate any form of communication with their families. These children were not allowed to know of their real nationality, history, or family. When
30960-519: Was implemented by the federal government and administered by various churches . Its purpose was to remove Aboriginal children from their homes and reserves, so they could teach them Euro-Canadian and Christian values. The policies forbade the children from speaking their own languages, contacting their family, or from acknowledging their culture in any way. Survivors of the residential schools have come forward and spoken out about physical, spiritual, sexual, and psychological abuse that they experienced at
31140-507: Was in turn split from Nova Scotia as part of a reorganization of Loyalist settlements in the Maritimes, which led to the incorporation of Saint John, New Brunswick , as Canada's first city. To accommodate the influx of English-speaking Loyalists in Central Canada, the Constitutional Act of 1791 divided the province of Canada into French-speaking Lower Canada (later Quebec ) and English-speaking Upper Canada (later Ontario ), granting each its own elected legislative assembly. The Canadas were
31320-408: Was one of these areas. In 1951, twenty-nine Aboriginal children were in provincial care in British Columbia; by 1964, that number was 1,466. Aboriginal children, who had comprised only 1 percent of all children in care, came to make up just over 34 percent. Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), a component of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement , was mandated to document
31500-468: Was passed because the Crown relates differently to First Nations (historically called "Indians") than to other ethnic groups because of their previous history on the land. When Canada confederated in 1867 the new state inherited legal responsibilities from the colonial periods under France and Great Britain , most notably the Royal Proclamation of 1763 which made it illegal for British subjects to buy land directly from Indian nations, because only
31680-430: Was passed by Parliament, outlining the terms of a negotiated departure from Confederation. In addition to the issues of Quebec sovereignty, a number of crises shook Canadian society in the late 1980s and early 1990s. These included the explosion of Air India Flight 182 in 1985, the largest mass murder in Canadian history; the École Polytechnique massacre in 1989, a university shooting targeting female students; and
31860-446: Was placed in her adoptive parents' home when she was 8 years old after being apprehended by Canadian government officials in 1966. The foster mother understood the extreme need that Rose had to keep in touch with her biological parents. For the whole of the ten years that she stayed with her foster family, they would make sure that she had some kind of interaction with her biological family. Unfortunately, Rose still ended up homeless due to
32040-402: Was the children of Aboriginal women who had been affected by restrictions under subsection 6(2) legal registration, only women who had children were eligible to be registered under subsection 6(1) of the act. Continuing to place restrictions on the status of reinstated women, Bill C-3 does not remove all gender bias provisions from the act. Bill S-3, "An Act to amend the Indian Act in response to
32220-534: Was the lead plaintiff in the class-action lawsuit filed in Ontario in 2009. On 14 February 2017, Ontario Superior Court Justice Edward Belobaba ruled that the government was liable for the harm caused by the Sixties Scoop; and on 6 October 2017, an $ 800-million settlement was announced for the Martel case. As Métis and non-status First Nations people are currently excluded from the agreement, National Indigenous Survivors of Child Welfare Network—a group led by Sixties Scoop survivors based in Ottawa—has advocated for
32400-448: Was the only targeted Indigenous transracial adoption program in Canada. CBC News produced a television segment about the AIM after the project's first year, in May 1968. It showed several Indian and Métis children playing as the reporter, Craig Oliver , told viewers that they represented only a few of the hundreds of First Nations children ages six weeks to six years who are in need of homes. He stated that there has been an increase in
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