Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew shocked the nation Monday with his call for an end to Canada’s 150-year-old Indian Act, criticizing what he described as a race-based status system.
At a meeting with First Nations chiefs and premiers in Ottawa, Kinew held up his government-issued status card, which identifies him as an “Indian.”
Scott Robertson@sarobertson_
Wab Kinew calls on Ottawa to abolish Indian Act: "I'm not sure if that lines up with your vision of Canada, that we still have a race-based form of identification in this country. It's long overdue that we have a relationship with Indigenous peoples in Canada that reflects who we …
7:38 PM · Oct 26, 2026 · 147K Views
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He argued the law conflicts with Canada’s human rights commitments and is not needed to protect treaty rights or Indigenous self-determination.
“You can have self-determination, and you can have strong Indigenous nationhood, while at the same time not having the paternalism and the barriers that come with the Indian Act,” Kinew said.
“You have nothing to lose but your chains.”
