Green Party would establish process for First Nations to opt out of Indian Act, May says

COWICHAN BAY, B.C. — The Green Party is promising a framework for Indigenous communities to opt out of the Indian Act as part of its strategy for reconciliation.

Party leader Elizabeth May says dismantling what she calls the “racist and oppressive” Indian Act, the law which defines much of the relationship between the federal government and First Nations, will be a complex process.

Should they form government, May says the Greens would re-introduce legislation to implement calls to action of both the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

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A Green government would also enshrine the tenets of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples into law.

May is in Cowichan Bay, B.C., campaigning with Green candidate Lydia Hwitsum in a Vancouver Island riding neighbouring her own seat.

The Greens are hoping for a breakthrough on the Island, and recent polls suggest they may be set to win several of the area’s seven seats.