Residual Sex Discrimination in the Indian Act: Constitutional Remedies

This article examines residual sex discrimination in the Canadian Indian Act after the implementation of Bill C-31 to amend the Act. The author examines the continuation of Indian status between generations and how Indigenous women continue to be disadvantaged by these rules. The article begins with a review of challenges to the Indian Act before the enactment of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The author then moves to discuss the conflict between individual and collective rights which arises in these debates of Indigenous rights. The second part of the article examines the potential constitutional remedies should these specific elements of the Indian Act be found in violation of the Charter. [Descriptors: Indigenous Women, Canada]