many of the authors’ children an d grandchildren of their Band membership and right to live On the reserve. The net result on the Band is a gain of nine persons, in terms of Indian status, and a loss of two. In addition, since the Band’s, proposed membership rules were not approved by the Minister before 28 June 1987, all persons acquiring the legal status of Indians are entitled to Band membership. Another problem arises with respect to children born after 17 April 1985, since they may acquire such status only if they have two Indian parents. The continued application of Bill C-31 will have an increasingly negative effect on the authors’ families if their children marry non-Indians in the same proportions as their parents. To avoid the termination of family lines through the operation of Section 6 (2)of Bill C-31, the authors would have to arrange all future marriages of Band members with members of other Bands. This is said to force them to choose between gradually losing their legal rights and their reserve land, and depriving their children of personal freedom and privacy, which would be incompatible with the Covenant and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. band under the Indian Act, she was never regarded as Shuswap by her husband’s band. As a result of the original Indian Act, Shuswap women who married non-Indians were removed from “band lists “ maintained by the Government of Canada, thereby losing their rights to live on lands set aside for Shuswap bands (“Indian reserves”). In 1951 the Indian Act was amended to the extent that minor Indian children would also lose their status if their mother marries a non-Indian; bands could, however, apply for an exemption from this rule. Other Shuswaps lost their Indian Status upon obtaining off-reserve employment, serving in the Canadian armed forces, or completing higher education. The authors conclude that it was Government policy to remove from Indian reserves anyone deemed capable of assimilating into non-Indian Canadian society. 2.4 By virtue of Bill C-31 women who, on account of their marriage to non-Indians prior to 17 April 1985, had lost their Indian status under the former Indian Act, together with any of their children who had lost status with them, could be reinstated and thus be re- considered band members. In addition, Bill C-31 authorized the reinstatement of men or women who were deprived of their status before 1951 for other reasons. The children of such persons, however, were added to a band list only if both parents were Indians or were entitled to be registered as Indians. Children born before 17 April 1985 , merely required the child’s father (or, if the parents were unmarried, mother)to have Indian status. 3.2 Another current problem is that twentyeight persons who are not directly related to the families now residing on the reserve have applied for Indian status and Band membership. This would entail a 50 per cent increase in housing requirements, which the Band cannot meet. So as to accommodate new members, the Band would have to develop a cluster-housing project requiring new water wells, sewer systems and power lines, at an estimated cost of $223,000 Canadian dollars. Federal adjustment assistance under Bill C-31 is, however, extremely limited. Even if. new members could be housed on the reserve, there is very little possibility of ensuring their employment. Cultural problems also arise, because some of the newcomers have never lived on an Indian reserve and others have lived offreserve for more than ten years. Considering that most are single, older adults without children, their social impact on a community which has consisted of three to four self-sufficient farm families would be overwhelming. 2.5 Bill C-31 provides that a band “may assume control of its own membership if it establishes membership rules for itself in writing”. It is submitted, however, that few bands were able to obtain approval of their own rules before 28 June 1987, the deadline established by Bill C-31. The net effect has been that persons who left the reserves before 1985, together with most of their children, have been reinstated upon request, and that all children born out of interracial marriages after 1985 have been, or will be, deleted from band lists. 3.3 The authors believe that the Committee’s Views in the Lovelace case confirm that States cannot unreasonably restrict freedom of association and co-habitation of individual families, nor of the related families which comprise an ethnic, religious or linguistic community. The authors consider that their The complaint 3.1 The authors submit that two aspects of Bill C-31 affect them adversely: bringing in new band members whom the community cannot house or support, and imposing new standards for Indian status which will operate to deprive 17