More second-reading debate is expected on Bill S-9.
MPs also return to the private member's motion from Liberal interim leader Bob Rae calling for an end to the Indian Act:
That, in the opinion of the House, the Indian Act is the embodiment of failed colonial and paternalistic policies which have denied First Nations their rights, fair share in resources; fostered mistrust and created systemic barriers to the self-determination and success of First Nations, and that elimination of these barriers requires the government to initiate a formal process of direct engagement with First Nations within three months of passage of this motion, on a nation-to-nation basis, which focuses on replacing the Indian Act with new agreements based on:
(a) the constitutional, treaty, and inherent rights of all First Nations;
(b) the historical and fiduciary responsibilities of the Crown to First Nations;
(c) the standards established in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, including the principle of free, prior, and informed consent;
(d) respect, recognition, reconciliation and support for First Nations;
(e) partnership and mutual accountability between the Crown and First Nations; and
(f) stability and safety of First Nations; and that this process be completed within two years before reporting with a series of concrete deliverables for the government to act upon.
Conservative MP Rob Clarke has introduced a bill to require the aboriginal affairs minister to report annually to Parliament on efforts to replace the Indian Act.
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