Tag: Bill S-2

More Cards, Same Cage: How Bill S-2 Expands the Circle Benwah Sits In asks what Bill S-2 really changes beyond the feel-good talking points. Ottawa and the Senate amendments do fix real harms in Indian Act registration — enfranchisement and the second-generation cut-off — so more people can get status back on paper. But the article argues that the core structure doesn’t move: the Indian Act, Canada Lands, and an UNDRIP-based procedural shield that lets Ottawa and industry say, “we consulted, your leaders agreed, we’re covered.” I tie that directly to Newfoundland, where Jasen Benwah, Mildred Lavers, and Peggy White switch between “community” and “rights-holder” hats while advancing large territorial claims. The bottom line is blunt: expanding the registry can grow paper power for bands and the state more than it grows real sovereignty for ordinary people — more cards, same cage. Read More...

This article takes the neat little meme Jasen Benwah shared — Indian Act control on one side, “inherent law” on the other — and lays it over the real power structures on the Port au Port peninsula. It tracks how Benoit First Nation’s bylaws were bent and then rewritten after a rule-breaking hire, how the band’s rulebook quietly moved from a public website into a paid “fundraiser” book, and how Catherine and Michael Fenwick sit at the intersection of ARCO’s francophone network, local heritage projects, and Benwah’s Mi’kmaq claims. With Ottawa pushing Bill S-2 to expand federal status entitlements after the Nicholas case, the piece asks whether any of that actually puts power back in the hands of ordinary people — or simply reinforces an overlapping circle that already speaks for everyone else. Read More...