Event Details

The Legacy of "Enfranchisement" under the Indian Act: Loss of Status and Current Constitutional Challenges

The Centre for Constitutional Studies is pleased to welcome Dr. Ryan Beaton from Vancouver's Power Law to discuss enfranchisement and current constitutional challenges under the Indian Act. This event will be held at 12:00pm in room 231A of the Law Centre. Lunch will be provided.

Lecture Abstract:

From the pre-confederation "Gradual Civilization Act" through various iterations of the Indian Act up to 1985, Canadian law provided mechanisms for "Indians" to apply for "enfranchisement", renouncing their Indian status in exchange for such benefits as the right to vote and to keep their children out of residential schools. The Indian Act today continues to deny status to thousands of individuals based on a family history of enfranchisement. This talk will give an overview of the history of enfranchisement and describe the lawsuit filed in June 2021 (and now proceeding through the courts following an attempted legislative solution, Bill C-38, killed by prorogation) by members of three families challenging the legacy of enfranchisement under the Indian Act.

Speakers

Ryan Beaton

Lawyer, Power Law

Ryan is a lawyer at Juristes Power Law in Vancouver and a member of the Law Societies of British Columbia and Ontario. He practices primarily in areas of Aboriginal law, constitutional law, and administrative law. Ryan is also an adjunct professor at the Allard School of Law, UBC, where he has taught courses on Federalism and on Aboriginal and Treaty Rights. He clerked for Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin at the Supreme Court of Canada in 2014-2015, prior to which he clerked at the Court of Appeal for Ontario.

Event Date(s):

March 27, 2025, 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm

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Centre for Constitutional Studies
448D Law Centre
University of Alberta
Edmonton, AB T6G 2H5

Event Details

The Legacy of "Enfranchisement" under the Indian Act: Loss of Status and Current Constitutional Challenges

Speakers

Ryan Beaton

Event Date(s):

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