SCO Calls on Federal Government to Advance Bill S-2 and End Discriminatory Registration Rules
Press Release
May 11, 2026
Consultation cannot become a permanent excuse for inaction while First Nations families continue to be excluded from their identity, their rights, and their Nations.”
–Grand Chief Jerry Daniels
ANISHINAABE AND DAKOTA TERRITORY, MB — The Southern Chiefs’ Organization (SCO) is expressing serious concern following recent reports that the federal government may delay, weaken, or abandon meaningful reforms to the discriminatory registration terms within The Indian Act through Bill S-2: An Act to amend the Indian Act (new registration entitlements).
Canada must act without delay to end the second-generation cut-off. SCO encourages the government to adopt a one-parent rule for status entitlement.
“Governments have used the Indian Act for generations as a tool to control and erase First Nations identity,” said Grand Chief Jerry Daniels. “The second-generation cut-off is one of the clearest examples of cultural genocide. It has separated families, undermined our Nations, and denied children their rightful place in their Nations.”
Bill S-2 addressed inequities within the Indian Act. Amendments advanced through the Senate proposed replacing the second-generation cut-off with a one-parent rule—to ensure that First Nations people entitled to status can continue passing that entitlement on to future generations.
SCO warns that any attempt to delay or weaken these reforms continues the harmful legacy of exclusion created through federal law.
“Consultation is important, but it cannot become a permanent excuse for inaction,” said Grand Chief Daniels. “Canada has acknowledged this discrimination for years. Every delay means more First Nations children and families remain excluded from their identity, their community, and their rights.”
SCO continues to emphasize that First Nations possess the inherent right to determine their own citizenship and belonging through Nation-based and self-government processes. However, those future systems cannot be used as justification to postpone equality for First Nations citizens currently impacted by discriminatory federal laws.
“As First Nations, we have never surrendered the right to determine our own citizens,” said Grand Chief Daniels. “The one-parent rule is the most direct and equitable solution to end this legislated discrimination while Nations continue rebuilding and restoring our own citizenship laws.”
SCO’s Chiefs-in-Summit unanimously passed a resolution in January 2026 calling for the elimination of the second-generation cut-off and supporting reforms that uphold First Nations jurisdiction, identity, and sovereignty. SCO has also advanced this issue through national advocacy and public education, appearances before Senate committees, and international engagement at the United Nations.
“Ending the second-generation cut-off is a human rights issue,” added Grand Chief Daniels. “True reconciliation means ending policies that legislate our people out of existence and restoring the inherent rights of First Nations to define who we are.”
SCO is calling on Members of Parliament (MPs) and federal officials to ensure Bill S-2 proceeds without delay. It is essential that MPs fully eliminate discriminatory registration rules, once and for all.
“This issue impacts families, communities, and entire generations of First Nations people,” said Grand Chief Daniels. “Parliament must act now.”
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The Southern Chiefs’ Organization represents 33 First Nations and more than 92,000 citizens in what is now called southern Manitoba. SCO is an independent political organization that protects, preserves, promotes, and enhances First Nations peoples’ inherent rights, languages, customs, and traditions through the application and implementation of the spirit and intent of the Treaty-making process.
For media inquiries:
Email: Media@scoinc.mb.ca
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