Overview
- Four plaintiffs—Charles and Christopher Wesley alongside Sharon and Nicole Nicholas—filed a statement of claim in Federal Court in Vancouver this month seeking damages for being denied benefits under the Indian Act.
- They allege their ancestors were enfranchised under laws predating Canadian Confederation, blocking descendants from registering for Indian status.
- The claim characterizes historical enfranchisement as often coerced or automatic for women and children, noting it was sometimes used to spare children from residential schools.
- Plaintiffs rely on Ottawa’s concession in a B.C. Supreme Court challenge that the Act’s registration provisions are unconstitutional to support their class-action.
- No rulings have been issued yet in either the B.C. challenge or the Federal Court suit, leaving potential certification and remedies unsettled.