The tangled web of jurisdictions: Citizenship and Aboriginal social rights

Citizenship is a recent political development in Canada. The 1947 Citizenship Act created a new class of citizens called Canadians. Aboriginal peoples, however, were excluded. The Indian Act had already defined who qualified as "Indian" and created a reserve system that excluded them from the same political and civil rights as the general population. Jurisdictional disputes continue to frame Aboriginal social policies within the context of their perceived role as citizens within Canada. In recent years, Jordan’s Principle, Idle No More, the Human Rights Case, and the Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women have renewed attention to issues of Aboriginal social rights.

Ginette Thomas is a PhD candidate specializing in Political Economy in the School of Social Work at Carleton University.