This article was last updated on April 16, 2022
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A Federal Court ruling has announced that Métis and non-status Indians are indeed “Indians” in accordance with a section of the Constitution Act, alleging that they are eligible to the federal jurisdiction. This decision will now clear any ambiguity regarding the relationship of Ottawa and almost 600,000 aboriginal people living off-reserve.
Even though the decision does not explicitly specify whether or not the federal government is obligated of fiduciary responsibility of the group, it did mention that all such responsibilitiesare automatically implied considering that their standing is no more ambiguous. The court case was filed by The Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, few Metis and non-status Indians, who filed a complaint against the federal government in 1999 claiming that they are faultilydiscriminated as the government does notconsiders “Indians” to be viable subjects of a section of the Constitution Act.
Plaintiff’s alleged in the complaint that they are deprived of some or all of the rights and benefits as on-reserve First Nations members.Some of these rights and benefits include access to similar health, education and other benefits Ottawa gives status Indians; being able to hunt, trap fish and gather on public land; and the ability of negotiating and entering treaties with the federal government.All plaintiffs of the complaint, namelythe congress, the Métis and non-status Indians, unanimously alleged in a court document that they are being victimized through “deprivations and discrimination” by the federal government.
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