AMC News

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

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 First Nations families.

The Senate Finance Committee’s report on the 2025-26 main estimates highlights a staggering inequity: nearly one-third of First Nations receive only $5,000 per year to administer status registration—barely enough to fund one day’s work per week, at wages lower than minimum wage. Meanwhile, the auditor general reports that more than 80 per cent of registration applications processed in Ottawa take more than six months—with some dragging on for years—leaving nearly 12,000 applications in limbo and hundreds of Elders waiting.

This isn’t just government inefficiency—it’s a tactic to maintain colonial control. I can state clearly: first, our registered status numbers are falling not because our populations are shrinking, but because families cannot access the system. Second, as a result, many are denied housing, health care, education, and post‑secondary support—all treaty rights to which we are entitled, but routinely blocked from accessing. That is not oversight; it is systemic exclusion.

Worse still, the federal funding model for administrators hasn’t changed since 1994. First Nations must reapply annually with little stability, and Indigenous Services Canada rarely upholds its own training or monitoring requirements. Despite promises to gradually transfer control to First Nations, there is no roadmap, no new funding model, and no accountability.

Our Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) Chiefs-in-Assembly have repeatedly affirmed that First Nations possess inherent jurisdiction over their citizenship, based on their laws and customs. Yet Canada treats us differently from the Métis—who are trusted to develop and control their own citizenship codes—while First Nations remain under paternalistic oversight. The result? Identity fraud, confusion, and erosion of treaty rights.

Our families have waited long enough. We participated in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Action Plan with hopes for a real partnership only to be told the process is “paused” indefinitely. We have sent explicit letters to federal ministers, demanding a cabinet mandate and resources to end legislative assimilation. It’s time for the new ministers to act where their predecessors failed: engage with AMC and our member Nations, and co-develop a plan rooted in treaty, inherent rights, and true nation-to-nation relationships.

So, what needs to happen next?

First, Parliament must allocate adequate, multi-year funding to support First Nations registration services. A one-size-fits-all, underfunded model that hasn’t been updated in more than 30 years is not acceptable. If Canada can meet legislative timelines and targets for itself—like it did under Bill C-5—then it can and must do the same when it comes to Treaty implementation and First Nations identity.

Second, we need co-development of a legislative framework that transfers status registration authority to First Nations fully, and in a way that reflects the diversity of our Nations. This isn’t about tweaks or pilot projects. This is about ending colonial control.

Third, implementation must be rooted in real partnership. That means working with First Nations organizations like AMC and our member Nations, and establishing clear timelines, mandates, and political will. We are not interested in another round of consultation that goes nowhere. We need a cabinet mandate. We need a commitment. And we need a government that is not afraid to act.

Finally, Canada must end its discriminatory approach to First Nations identity. First Nations cannot be the only group held back by outdated legislation, and an unaccountable bureaucracy. Our inherent rights don’t need Canada’s permission. They need Canada’s recognition.

Let this be the year we break the Indian Act’s control over First Nations identity. We are ready to reclaim jurisdiction; Canada must match our readiness with action.

View the article on the Hill Times website here.