VANCOUVER - The B.C. Supreme Court has given the Canadian government until April 2026 to change the Indian Act to bring it into compliance with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms after a successful legal challenge by descendants of people who renounced their status under the law.
The court ruled that provisions of the act that denied status to people with a "family history of enfranchisement," where their parents or grandparents gave up their status and the benefits it entails, infringed upon the plaintiffs' Charter rights.