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Bill S-250

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First Session, Forty-fifth Parliament,

3-4 Charles III, 2025-2026

SENATE OF CANADA

BILL S-250
An Act to amend the Department of Justice Act
FIRST READING, June 18, 2026

THE HONOURABLE SENATOR GREENWOOD
4512413


SUMMARY

The bill amends the Department of Justice Act to, among other things, require that the Minister of Justice cause to be tabled, for every government bill introduced in either House of Parliament, a statement of the bill’s potential effects on the rights of Indigenous Peoples that are recognized and affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982.

Available on the Senate of Canada website at the following address:
www.sencanada.ca/en


1st Session, 45th Parliament,

3-4 Charles III, 2025-2026

SENATE OF CANADA

BILL S-250

An Act to amend the Department of Justice Act

Preamble

Whereas section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982 states, “The existing aboriginal and treaty rights of the aboriginal peoples of Canada are hereby recognized and affirmed.‍”;

Whereas subsection 8.‍3(1) of the Interpretation Act states, “Every enactment is to be construed as upholding the Aboriginal and treaty rights of Indigenous peoples recognized and affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, and not as abrogating or derogating from them.‍”;

Whereas the Government of Canada is committed to implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, including the principle of free, prior and informed consent;

Whereas Article 19 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples declares, “States shall consult and cooperate in good faith with the indigenous peoples concerned through their own representative institutions in order to obtain their free, prior and informed consent before adopting and implementing legislative or administrative measures that may affect them.‍”;

Whereas section 5 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act states, “The Government of Canada must, in consultation and cooperation with Indigenous peoples, take all measures necessary to ensure that the laws of Canada are consistent with the Declaration.‍”;

Whereas the duty to consult requires the Government of Canada to consult Indigenous Peoples in good faith before taking actions that may adversely affect their asserted or established rights under section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982;

Whereas Parliament recognizes that First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples have their own distinctive collective identities, cultures, languages and ways of life and that recognition of these distinctions is essential to any meaningful consultation;

Whereas an Indigenous Rights Statement is a transparency mechanism for parliamentarians to understand whether a government bill may infringe Indigenous Peoples’ rights and whether adequate consultation and engagement have occurred;

And whereas the presentation of an Indigenous Rights Statement to Parliament does not relieve the government of Canada from its duty to consult;

Now, therefore, His Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

Short Title

Short title

1 This Act may be cited as the Indigenous Rights Statement Act.

R.‍S.‍, c. J-2

Department of Justice Act

2 (1) Subsection 4.‍2(1) of the Department of Justice Act is replaced by the following:

Statement
4.‍2 (1) The Minister shall, for every Bill introduced in or presented to either House of Parliament by a minister or other representative of the Crown, cause to be tabled, in the House in which the Bill originates, a statement that sets out

  • Insertion start (a) Insertion end  potential effects of the Bill on

    • Insertion start (i) Insertion end  the rights and freedoms that are guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms Insertion start , and Insertion end

    • Start of inserted block

      (ii) the rights of Indigenous peoples that are recognized and affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982; and

  • (b) whether the Bill is consistent with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

    End of inserted block
Consultation
Start of inserted block
(1.‍1) If the statement sets out potential effects on the rights referred to in subparagraph (1)‍(a)‍(ii), the statement must also include

  • (a) a detailed summary of any consultations undertaken with the Indigenous peoples who hold these rights; or

  • (b) an indication that no consultations were undertaken with the Indigenous peoples referred to in paragraph (a).

    End of inserted block

(2) Section 4.‍2 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (2):

Definition of Indigenous peoples
Start of inserted block
(3) For the purposes of subsections (1) and (1.‍1), Indigenous peoples has the meaning assigned by the definition aboriginal peoples of Canada in subsection 35(2) of the Constitution Act, 1982.
End of inserted block

Coming into Force

First anniversary

3 This Act comes into force on the first anniversary of the day on which it receives royal assent.

Published under authority of the Senate of Canada

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