Federal Officials Defend Revoking Status of 738 Innu
Federal bureaucrats Lori Doran and Claire Thie defended their decision to revoke status from more than 700 Innu before a Senate committee in Ottawa this week. The 738 people affected are all descendants of Christine Kichera and Adelaïde Matshiragan, two Innu women who lived in the 1700s.
The hearing was the first time federal bureaucrats from Indigenous Services Canada publicly explained the decision. Lawyers working for St-Gelais-Dubé and other community members told senators that the people affected were being asked to prove something that was almost impossible.
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The burden-of-proof detail is the story: a lawyer told senators the reserve was created only after Kichera and Matshiragan died, so their names would not appear on any official government list. The affected people are being asked to prove something almost impossible.
The official's defense is narrower: in the absence of evidence, she said she had no choice but to revoke the descendants' status. A rule can be binding and still produce an absurd result.