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OTTAWA — A Conservative MP says more than 4,000 letters have been sent to the House of Commons committee on Indigenous issues demanding that the federal government immediately change the way First Nations status works under the Indian Act.
MP Billy Morin, the former chief of Enoch Cree Nation who serves as the Conservative party’s critic of Indigenous Services, echoed those calls in a letter he sent to Prime Minister Mark Carney this week.
The committee, known as INAN, is studying legislation that would change the rules establishing who is entitled to First Nations status under the Indian Act. It was introduced in the Senate as S-2 and initially had support from the governing Liberals.
The legislation was drafted to eliminate some gender inequities in the Indian Act and allow some 3,500 people to become eligible for First Nations status.
Some senators and First Nations leaders said the bill didn’t go far enough. Senators voted to extend eligibility requirements to allow status to be transferred to children if one of their parents is registered — eliminating what’s known as the “second-generation cutoff” — and sent the legislation to the House of Commons, where it is now being studied.
“The second-generation cutoff is discriminatory. The Senate has provided a path to remove it. Hundreds of First Nations have called for action. Thousands of people have written to Parliament,” Morin wrote in his letter to the prime minister.
“You now have a clear choice.”
Current law uses a formula to determine whether an individual qualifies for “full” or “half” First Nations status. 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 do not have status — the second-generation cutoff.
Some chiefs say that if the law is not changed, their communities could be left with no federally recognized members in the next generation — essentially eliminating their rights as a distinct people.
“More than 500 First Nations support the Senate amendments. Yet despite claims that significant numbers of First Nations oppose these amendments, (Indigenous Services) Minister (Mandy) Gull-Masty and Parliamentary Secretary Jaime Battiste have failed to produce a single such First Nation to testify before INAN or the standing Senate committee on Indigenous Peoples,” Morin wrote in his letter to the prime minister.
“It is especially troubling that Parliamentary Secretary Battiste has reportedly warned Liberal colleagues that delaying Bill S-2 is damaging the government’s already weakened relationship with Indigenous Peoples. If Liberal leadership is ignoring those warnings while still relying on Indigenous Liberal MPs to repair the damage caused by these decisions, that is cynical and unacceptable.”
Morin was referring to reports in the Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail that said Battiste raised concerns with Carney about how the federal government’s handling of the legislation is being perceived by First Nations.
The Liberals have been urged by First Nations leaders and the United Nations to eliminate the second-generation cutoff.
Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty, who is Cree, has indicated the federal government does not support the amended Senate bill and has opted instead to continue consultations with First Nations on a path forward.
“Tokenizing your Indigenous members of Parliament does not mean you have a working relationship with First Nations, Inuit or Métis peoples. Reconciliation comes when you sit at a table and hear our voices. That opportunity is being presented to you,” Morin wrote to Carney.
“It is time for your government to stop delaying and pass Bill S-2 with the Senate amendments.”
In an emailed statement, Gull-Masty’s spokesperson Livi McElrea said the government is committed to ending the second-generation cutoff but is still determining how to do so.
“Canada has an obligation to carefully and appropriately consider and consult on all proposed solutions, in accordance with First Nations’ right to self-determination,” she wrote.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 10, 2026.
Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian Press
