LEAF logo
LEAF logo
DONATE
MENU
LEAF logo

Contact

DONATE
Informations en français
  • English
  • Français
  • About
    • Our Story
    • Mission & Vision
    • Staff
    • Board
    • Law Program Committee
    • FAQs
    • Employment Opportunities
    • Student Positions
  • Cases and Law Reform
    • Our Work
    • Issue Areas
      • Reproductive Justice
      • Indigenous Rights and Law
      • Identity-Based Oppression
      • Hate Speech and Online Hate
      • Sexual Assault and Consent Law
      • Gender-Based Violence
      • Access to Justice
      • Workplace Rights
      • Socio-Economic Rights
      • Family Law
    • Search Cases & Submissions
    • Current Work
      • Basic Income Project
      • LEAF’s Feminist Strategic Litigation Project
      • LEAF’s Technology-Facilitated Violence (TFV) Project
      • National Abortion Access Framework
      • Reproductive Justice Project
    • Past Projects
    • Legal Resources
  • Education
    • Overview
    • Workshops, trainings & webinars
    • Factsheets & infographics
  • News & Events
    • Search News & Events
    • Events
  • Publications
    • Search Publications
    • Working Papers
    • Reports
    • Annual Reports
  • Regional Branches
    • Overview
    • LEAF Edmonton
    • LEAF Halifax
    • LEAF Hamilton
    • LEAF Kingston
    • LEAF Ottawa
    • LEAF Québec
    • LEAF Thunder Bay
    • LEAF Toronto
    • LEAF Windsor
  • Get Involved
    • Ways to Get Involved
    • Donate
    • Join a Branch
    • Volunteer
    • Become a LEAF Pro Bono Lawyer
    • Partner with LEAF
Menu
  • About
    • Our Story
    • Mission & Vision
    • Staff
    • Board
    • Law Program Committee
    • FAQs
    • Employment Opportunities
    • Student Positions
  • Cases and Law Reform
    • Our Work
    • Issue Areas
      • Reproductive Justice
      • Indigenous Rights and Law
      • Identity-Based Oppression
      • Hate Speech and Online Hate
      • Sexual Assault and Consent Law
      • Gender-Based Violence
      • Access to Justice
      • Workplace Rights
      • Socio-Economic Rights
      • Family Law
    • Search Cases & Submissions
    • Current Work
      • Basic Income Project
      • LEAF’s Feminist Strategic Litigation Project
      • LEAF’s Technology-Facilitated Violence (TFV) Project
      • National Abortion Access Framework
      • Reproductive Justice Project
    • Past Projects
    • Legal Resources
  • Education
    • Overview
    • Workshops, trainings & webinars
    • Factsheets & infographics
  • News & Events
    • Search News & Events
    • Events
  • Publications
    • Search Publications
    • Working Papers
    • Reports
    • Annual Reports
  • Regional Branches
    • Overview
    • LEAF Edmonton
    • LEAF Halifax
    • LEAF Hamilton
    • LEAF Kingston
    • LEAF Ottawa
    • LEAF Québec
    • LEAF Thunder Bay
    • LEAF Toronto
    • LEAF Windsor
  • Get Involved
    • Ways to Get Involved
    • Donate
    • Join a Branch
    • Volunteer
    • Become a LEAF Pro Bono Lawyer
    • Partner with LEAF
Home / News & Events / Search News & Events

Case News

LEAF Factum Filed in Gehl v AG

Read the Gehl v. Canada (Attorney General) (2017) full case summary

On Friday September 23rd, 2016, the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) filed its factum in Gehl v Attorney General of Canada. The Ontario Court of Appeal granted LEAF leave to intervene in this case challenging sex discrimination in the Indian Act.

Dr. Lynn Gehl is an Algonquin-Anishinaabe woman with more than five continuous generations of Indigenous ancestry. She seeks registration as an “Indian” under the registration system in the Indian Act, colloquially referred to as “Indian status”. Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC, now Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada) denied her registration application in 1994. The AANDC Registrar determined that Dr. Gehl does not qualify for Indian status because her grandmother did not identify Dr. Gehl’s grandfather. Pursuant to AANDC’s Proof of Paternity Policy, if the father is not listed on the birth certificate, he is assumed to be non-Indian.

Why LEAF has intervened in Gehl

LEAF has supported efforts by Indigenous women to remove sex discrimination from the Indian Act for many years. Reforms in the latter half of the last century failed to eliminate the discrimination suffered by Indigenous women under the Indian Act since Confederation. LEAF submits that the registration provisions of the Indian Act, as they are implemented by the Proof of Paternity Policy, create a distinction on the basis of sex and marital status that constitutes discrimination.

“Indian status” in Canada provides access to material benefits such as tax exemptions and financial assistance with post-secondary education. Intangible benefits include cultural connection and recognition. Status is valuable, but there are many reasons why an Indigenous woman would not register her child’s biological father. For example, a father may not be present at birth if the reserve is remote and access to hospitals is difficult, the family may lack the funds to alter a child’s birth certificate, a father may deny paternity as a result of social pressures and incentives, or a mother may choose not to disclose the father’s identity due to sexual violence, such as incest and rape. LEAF Legal Director, Dr. Kim Stanton notes:

Indigenous women are disproportionately targeted for sexual violence and they are disproportionately single parents living in poverty. An Indigenous mother should not be forced to choose between ensuring her child’s status (and the ensuing benefits) and a heightened risk of physical harm or social conflicts.

LEAF asserts that the parent who will be disadvantaged by this policy will inevitably be a woman, since it is men rather than women who are unstated on birth certificates. A policy that makes a distinction based on “unstated paternity” necessarily discriminates on the basis of sex.

In this era of reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada, it is concerning that the federal government continues to uphold a statute and a policy that discriminates against Indigenous women and their children. Moreover, it is shocking that the government of Canada continues to use criteria of race and gender to determine the identities of Indigenous people.

LEAF is proud to be represented in this appeal by Renée Pelletier and Krista Nerland of Olthuis, Kleer, Townshend LLP. We are very grateful for their pro bono representation.

About Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF)
Since April 17, 1985, when equality rights were enshrined in sections 15 and 28 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, LEAF has worked toward equality for women and girls. LEAF intervenes in key cases to ensure that when courts interpret equality rights, there will be a systemic improvement in women’s lives. For more information about LEAF, visit www.leaf.ca.

Read the full case summary
Let's Change The Law to Uphold Gender Equality
Donate
Join Us!

Related Project

Loading...
harry-thaker-wIcwpfuC8Wg-unsplash
Past Project
Legal Strategy Coalition on Violence Against Indigenous Women (LSC)

Related Cases

Loading...

R. v. Sharma (2020, 2022)

This case concerned the over-incarceration of Indigenous women.

Canada (Human Rights Commission) v. Canada (A.G.) (2018)

This case concerned sex discrimination in the Indian Act.
More Cases

Related Issue Area

Loading...

Indigenous Rights and Law

LEAF_FAEJ_hz_names_colour_rgb_rev
Donate to support equality

National Office
180 Dundas Street West, Suite 1420
Toronto, ON M5G 1Z8
[email protected]
Phone: 416.595.7170
Toll-free: 1.888.824.5323
Facsimile: 416.595.7191

Stay up to date on feminist law and LEAF’s work to advance gender equality



LEAF_FAEJ_hz_names_colour_rgb_rev

National Office
180 Dundas Street West, Suite 1420
Toronto, ON M5G 1Z8
[email protected]
Phone: 416.595.7170
Toll-free: 1.888.824.5323
Facsimile: 416.595.7191

Charitable Registration Number: 10821 9916 RR0001

Facebook-f Twitter Instagram

Stay up to date on feminist law and LEAF’s work to advance gender equality



Donate to support equality

© 2020 Women’s Legal Education & Action Fund (LEAF). All rights reserved. | Legal & Privacy | Accessibility | Website by Affinity Bridge

MENU

  • About
    • Our Story
    • Mission & Vision
    • Staff
    • Board
    • Law Program Committee
    • FAQs
    • Employment Opportunities
    • Student Positions
  • Cases and Law Reform
    • Our Work
    • Issue Areas
      • Reproductive Justice
      • Indigenous Rights and Law
      • Identity-Based Oppression
      • Hate Speech and Online Hate
      • Sexual Assault and Consent Law
      • Gender-Based Violence
      • Access to Justice
      • Workplace Rights
      • Socio-Economic Rights
      • Family Law
    • Search Cases & Submissions
    • Current Work
      • Basic Income Project
      • LEAF’s Feminist Strategic Litigation Project
      • LEAF’s Technology-Facilitated Violence (TFV) Project
      • National Abortion Access Framework
      • Reproductive Justice Project
    • Past Projects
    • Legal Resources
  • Education
    • Overview
    • Workshops, trainings & webinars
    • Factsheets & infographics
  • News & Events
    • Search News & Events
    • Events
  • Publications
    • Search Publications
    • Working Papers
    • Reports
    • Annual Reports
  • Regional Branches
    • Overview
    • LEAF Edmonton
    • LEAF Halifax
    • LEAF Hamilton
    • LEAF Kingston
    • LEAF Ottawa
    • LEAF Québec
    • LEAF Thunder Bay
    • LEAF Toronto
    • LEAF Windsor
  • Get Involved
    • Ways to Get Involved
    • Donate
    • Join a Branch
    • Volunteer
    • Become a LEAF Pro Bono Lawyer
    • Partner with LEAF
  • English
  • Français