An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Indian Act

Bill S-268 was a Senate Private Member's Bill amending the Criminal Code (R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46) and the Indian Act (R.S.C. 1985, c. I-5) to address First Nations jurisdiction over by-law enforcement on reserve. Currently the Indian Act section 81 allows First Nations to make by-laws on certain matters but enforcement has been hampered by limited RCMP and Indigenous police-service capacity. The bill would have created federal-RCMP and federal-Indigenous-justice cooperation frameworks for First Nations by-law enforcement, parallel to the 2019 BC Court of Appeal ruling in Whispering Pines/Clinton Indian Band v. Canada (2019 BCCA 117) on federal-jurisdiction trespass enforcement. Sponsored by Senator Kim Pate (Ontario, former executive director of the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies). Did not pass third reading.