Bill C-31 court challenge fight for rights or money?

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Senator Walter Twinn is on the verge of going to court.

Twinn, along with three other bands in Alberta, is about to challenge the constitutionality of Bill C-31, a 1985 piece of legislation that reversed some of the discrimination outlined in one section of the Indian Act.

C-31 was designed to give Indian status back to Natives who lost status through the Indian Act for any number of reasons, such as marrying non-Indians, working off a reserve or wanting to vote. Among the most disadvantaged people addressed in the act are women. Under C-31, any woman who lost her status for marrying a non-Native is placed back on the Department of Indian Affairs Registrar's Indian status list. But they are only placed on a band's membership list if the Registrar controls membership. If the band controls membership, the C-31 applicants must approach the band.

Twinn, who's also the chief of the Sawridge band in northern Alberta, says that Ottawa does not have the right to decide who will be and who will not be members of an Indian band. In passing Bill C-31, the federal government is apparently forcing him to accept applications whether he wants them or not.

In all fairness, Twinn is not the only Native who does not like the bill. Many other Aboriginal people do not believe C-31 is in their best interests and see it as a move towards assimilation. Many think it undermines their culture, customs and traditional laws respecting citizenship.

Many Aboriginal women had hoped that the bill would restore equal rights, but discrimination still exists in many sections of the bill, in other government policies, and in the Jurassic-like mentalities of many chiefs and councils.

But it is hard to look at Twinn's case and believe that he is challenging Bill C-31 on any of these fronts. The Sawridge Band is not very big. It has less than 100 members. But it is one of the richest bands in Canada, with assets that weigh in the millions.

Twinn's band currently requires any applicant, C-31 or otherwise, to fill out a complicated application form. The document requires that people interested in joining

the band prove why they should be members. Historical documents must be produced, genealogies researched, resumes submitted. Membership is also contingent on the applicant handing over some of their assets to the band during their first year as member for the band's use.

All of this could lead one to believe that membership in the Sawridge band is a matter of money, not community. It might also lead one to believe that the whole Bill

C-31 conflict is really about rich bands trying to limit their membership to maximize their profits.