Native Women’s Rights Proponent Named To Senate
Thursday, September 22, 2005 at 15:02
A New Brunswick woman credited with furthering the rights of First Nations women in Canada is now a senator.
Sandra Lovelace Nicholas has been appointed to the Senate by Prime Minister Paul Martin, and will serve under the Liberal banner.
Lovelace Nicholas is best known for taking the government to court over discriminatory provisions in the Indian Act — specifically, the clause that prevented First Nations women from retaining their Indian status when they married non-Native men.
She also raised the issue at the United Nations level.
The government ended up restoring the rights of these women and their children in 1985 with the passing of Bill C-31.