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Pallister pushes feds on women's rights bill

It's an issue on reserves

By: Mia Rabson

Posted: 05/10/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

An interview with Brian Pallister in his campaign office. He will be seeking the Manitoba Conservative Party leadership. Bruce Owen story (WAYNE GLOWACKI/WINNIPEG FREE PRESS) Winnipeg Free Press April 10 2012

OTTAWA -- Manitoba Tory leadership candidate Brian Pallister took a bit of a swing at his former colleagues on Parliament Hill this week, calling on them to finally pass a bill to extend property rights to women living on reserves.

Pallister has been battling on this issue for years, including during his time as the Conservative MP for Portage-Lisgar, when he introduced a private member's bill to provide for marital property rights on reserves.

The federal government took up the cause when the Conservatives came to power in 2006, but legislation has died on the order paper three times. The current bill, S-2, was introduced in the Senate last September and passed the Senate in December. It got first reading in the House of Commons Dec. 8 but hasn't been called by the government to proceed since then.

Pallister said that's not acceptable.

"What's the problem?" he asked. "For heaven's sake, 25 years ago we knew this was a problem."

The Supreme Court ruled in 1986 that provincial laws on matrimonial property cannot be applied on reserves because reserves fall under federal jurisdiction. In 2003, a Senate committee recommended the gap in the law be fixed. A House of Commons committee followed suit in 2005. In 2006, the federal government launched a national consultation process to figure out a solution, which resulted in the legislation.

The lack of laws on matrimonial property can often mean a wife is forced off a reserve if a relationship breaks up or if her spouse dies. As well, the courts can't order an abusive spouse out of the family home if that spouse has the property rights.

Bill S-2 would compel First Nations to enact their own laws regarding the use, occupation and possession of family homes on reserves and the division of other property between spouses or common-law partners.

Until First Nations pass their own laws, there are provisions in the bill to be followed. Those include equal rights for both partners to live in the family home and an allowance so courts may order a spouse to be excluded from the home in situations of family violence.

Pallister said the matter came to his attention when a woman came to his office and told him she and her husband had split up and she wasn't allowed back on the reserve to get any of her belongings and couldn't even see her kids.

He said he gives the federal Conservatives enormous credit for finally tackling the issue, but said he is frustrated the government hasn't seen it to its conclusion.

Pallister said he is speaking up now because his candidacy for the provincial Progressive Conservative party leadership provides him with a bit of a platform.

"I've got a little bit of leverage now because I may be leading a provincial party soon," he said.

Jason MacDonald, director of communications for Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan, said the government remains committed to the bill but he could not say when it might be called for debate.

"With regard to the status of the bill, we have a busy legislative agenda, but this legislation remains a priority for our government and we look forward to second reading," he said.

Support for the bill among First Nations is split, with some criticizing it for being a made-in-Ottawa solution.

The Assembly of First Nations agrees the issue needs to be solved, but worries the bill doesn't include an appropriate dispute mechanism and isn't comprehensive enough to address all areas where disputes could arise.

mia.rabson@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 10, 2012 A6

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