Dispute over new divorce bill
Right now, if a marriage breaks down for a couple living on an aboriginal reserve, there are no divorce laws.
Federal and provincial laws don’t apply. The band has jurisdiction. It is a situation the government has long promised to rectify.
Tomorrow at 12:15 PM, Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl, and the minister responsible for women, Josée Verner, will announce legislation to cover people who live on reserves. The CBC has learned it will be the Matrimonial Real Property Rights Legislation. The proposed law would divide assets and property after divorce or common law relationships breakdown.
We last heard of this issue in the fall when then Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice promised to move forward. At the time, he was accepting a report from Wendy Grant-John, a former Vice Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, who had been hired to proceed with consultations on matrimonial property.
Twice the House of Commons committee on aboriginal affairs recommended the government implement such a law, in both 2005 and 2006. Former Liberal Indian Affairs Minister Andy Scott rejected the first report due to pressure from the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), which has been opposed to having the federal government wade into their jurisdiction. The AFN has historically wanted to empower bands to run their own affairs.
The Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) has long pushed the government to act, and in fact has been suing the government since 1989, on this very issue. Ironically, even though the NWAC has been calling for legislation for 18 years, the organization is unlikely to support the legislation. NWAC wants money to accompany the law to assist bands in implementing the changes, and the organization won’t be satisfied if money only goes to the RCMP and judges because it fears many couples are poor and live in remote areas.
Given housing shortages, the band member will probably claim the house, leaving an ex-common law spouse out in the cold, having no idea they might have rights.
The Native Women’s Association of Canada and the AFN were part of the discussions surrounding draft legislation and then both were shut out.
It seems interests likely diverged.
About the Authors
- Rosemary Barton started her television career reporting from Quebec City where she covered the ins and outs of Quebec politics. She moved to the CBC Parliamentary Bureau in 2007. She also stood on the side of road awaiting U.S. President Barack Obama's motorcade for hours in the cold. When she finally spotted him, all of Canada heard her shriek, "I saw him!"
- Alison Crawford worked in Fredericton, Calgary and Winnipeg before returning to her hometown to work in the CBC parliamentary bureau. Her beats include the RCMP, justice, public safety and the Liberals. Alison credits her investigative skills as well as a national etiquette column and coverage of a ferret Christmas party, with having prepared her for covering national politics.
- Andrew Davidson is a producer for the CBC politics page in Toronto. He joined CBCNews.ca's national desk in 2006 and was the lead news writer for the website's 2008 federal election coverage.
- Chris Hall is the National Affairs Editor for CBC News. He's been a member of the CBC Parliamentary Bureau since 1998. That adds up to 11 budgets, four elections, three prime ministers and too many confidence votes to count. Chris started his career in print before moving to the CBC in 1992. Since then, he's worked in Toronto, Halifax and St. John's, as well as Ottawa.
- Leslie MacKinnon Leslie's been working in news and current affairs since newsrooms used teletype, televison was shot on film and radio tape was edited with a razor blade. She saw through The Journal's long run on CBC-TV, and since then has worked in Halifax, Toronto and Ottawa in the CBC's various permutations. Right now, she's a TV news reporter in the political bureau, and likes certain parts of Ottawa - the canal, the Hill - a lot.
- Janyce McGregor has been a television producer in the CBC's Parliamentary Bureau since 2001. She started her career working for Studio 2 on TVOntario. In 2005 her then-doctoral student husband persuaded her to follow him to the U.K., where she worked for BBC World Service Radio in London. Janyce is originally a farm girl from southwestern Ontario. Her most important job title is "Norah's Mom."
- Chris Rands has been a member of the Parliamentary bureau since 2001. He started at Toronto's AM Radio giant CFRB before moving to CBC's National Radio News in 1996. Chris has worked in Toronto, Moncton, Sudbury, Regina, Washington and St John's. Every time Chris walks up to the Peace Tower, he wants to throw his hat in the air like Mary Tyler Moore.
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