It’s time to end Canada’s control over First Nations identity

Despite promises to gradually transfer control of status registration to First Nations, there is no roadmap, no new funding model, and no accountability.

Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Rebecca Alty, left, and Prime Minister Mark Carney. First Nations cannot be the only group held back by outdated legislation, and an unaccountable bureaucracy, writes Grand Chief Kyra Wilson.The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Opinion

BY KYRA WILSON

July 7, 2025

A recent Senate report and auditor general review confirm what First Nations have long known: Canada’s status registration under the Indian Act is chronically underfunded and deeply broken. It’s a system that deliberately divides, controls, and denies basic rights to Fir...

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