Sharon McIvor will file complaint against Canada at the United Nations

From FAFIA (Feminist Alliance for International Action) via AWID (Association for Women's Rights in Development):

"Canadian Aboriginal woman lawyer, leader and advocate, Sharon McIvor announced today [December 22, 2010] that she will file a complaint against Canada at the United Nations. 'Canada continues to discriminate against Aboriginal women and their descendants in the determination of eligibility for registration as an Indian. Versions of the Indian Act, going back to the
19th century, have given preference to male Indians as transmitters of status, and to descendants of male Indians. Despite amendments made to the Indian Act when the Charter came into effect in 1985, Aboriginal women are still not treated equally as transmitters of status, and many thousands of descendants of Aboriginal women are denied status as a result.'

McIvor said: “I contested this discrimination under the Charter. It took twenty years in Canadian courts, and I achieved only partial success. Now I will seek full justice for Aboriginal women under international human rights law. Canada needs to be held to account for its intransigence in refusing to completely eliminate sex discrimination from the Indian Act and for decades of delay.”

In 1994, Sharon McIvor brought a constitutional challenge to the sex discrimination in the registration provisions of the Indian Act. The B.C. Supreme Court ruled that section 6 of the Indian Act violated s. 15 of the Charter. However, when Canada appealed, the B.C. Court of Appeal ruled that although the Indian Act was discriminatory, the bulk of the discrimination
was justified because the Government’s purpose was to preserve the existing rights of the Aboriginal men and their descendants who had been given preferred status.

Parliament is now poised to pass a new amendment to the Indian Act, Bill C-3, in response to the Court of Appeal decision. But Bill C-3, if passed, will provide only a partial and inadequate solution to the sex discrimination. Bill C-3 will make some female line descendants newly
eligible for status, but they will still have a lesser ability to transmit status than their male line counterparts. In addition, Bill C-3 will still exclude many descendants of Indian women who were unmarried. As long as these Aboriginal women and their descendants continue to be ineligible for registration as Indians, sex discrimination will remain an entrenched characteristic of the Indian Act.

McIvor said: “Because neither Canadian courts nor Parliament have yet granted an adequate and effective remedy for the sex discrimination which has been a hallmark of the Indian Act for more than a hundred years, I will take my case to the United Nations Human Rights Committee.”

“Many people in Canada, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, recognize that this long-standing discrimination against Aboriginal women and their descendants is wrong and should end. Before me, Mary Two-Axe Early, Jeanette Corbière Lavell, Yvonne Bedard, and Sandra Lovelace all fought to end sex discrimination against Aboriginal women in the status registration provisions in the Indian Act. I will continue, with the same determination they had, until Aboriginal women enjoy equality,” said McIvor."

-End-

Sources:
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/November2010/12/c3673.html

http://www.fafia-afai.org/en/news/2010/sharon-mcivor-takes-her-fight-united-nations

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Sharon McIvor has devoted her life to improving the conditions of Aboriginal women, and all women in Canada. Sharon is a member of the Lower Nicola Band in British Columbia , a practicing lawyer, and a Professor of Aboriginal Law at Nicola Valley Institute of Technology. She has spent over two decades fighting to end sex discrimination under the status provisions of the Indian Act. At the same time she has been tireless in her work to end violence against Aboriginal women.

First Women, First Voices advance ticket sales

Don't risk being turned away at the door!

We're now a week away from the event and advance tickets are definitely going to sell out. This is great news for us, but we don't want you to be disappointed and miss out on this spectacular event!

There will only be a LIMITED number of tix available at the door the night of the event.

Here's the ticket info:
Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at VENUS ENVY (320 Lisgar, near Bank) or MOTHER TONGUE BOOKS (1067 Bank near Sunnyside).

You can also get tickets ONLINE at: http://www.facebook.com/l/dfac4;www.firstwomenfirstvoices.eventbrite.com

Looking forward to seeing all of you there, and thanks for your enthusiastic support!
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Event info and details:
When: Friday, October 23, 2009 from 7:00 PM - 11:00 PM (ET)
Where: Mac Hall, Bronson Centre (211 Bronson Avenue, Ottawa)

Ladyfest Ottawa is thrilled to present First Women, First Voices - a night dedicated to showcasing and celebrating the work of aboriginal women in spoken word.

We'll begin this powerful evening with opening sets by TAQRALIK PARTRIDGE and by MOE CLARK & EMILIE MONNET, who will be debuting an excerpt of their new collaborative project, The BirdSong Prophecies.

TAQRALIK PARTRIDGE http://www.myspace.com/taqralikpartridge
MOE CLARK http://www.myspace.com/moeclarkspokenword
EMILIE MONNET http://www.electriques.ca/filles/artistes.e/m/monnet_em.php

Our featured artist for the evening is Calgary's Sarah Murphy, who will be presenting her performance piece "when bill danced the war." In this fierce anti-war critique of colonization, Murphy uses words and music to bear witness to her father's experiences fighting in three wars as an indigenous man and american soldier. She will be accompanied by Toronto musician and performance artist Cheryl L'Hirondelle.

SARAH MURPHY http://www.wordhoard.co.uk/bill.htm
CHERYL L'HIRONDELLE http://www.myspace.com/cheryllhirondelle

4th Annual Sisters in Spirit Vigil in Ottawa

The Native Women’s Association of Canada proudly presents…

4th Annual Sisters In Spirit Vigil
Sunday, October 4th 2009
Ottawa, ON

Come light a candle for our missing and murdered Aboriginal Sisters In Spirit

4-6pm: Community Feast
University of Ottawa, Desmarais Bldg (55 Laurier Avenue East)
Entertainment, Food, Speakers

6pm: Unity March
U of O to Parliament Hill

7–8pm: Rally on the Hill
Welcome, Family Stories, Vigil

Call 613.722.3033 for information

In collaboration with:

Amnesty International Canada
KAIROS
National Association of Friendship Centres
Canadian Federation of Students