Gehl v. Canada | The Brian Mulroney Institute of Government

The Gehl decision came from the case of Dr. Lynn Gehl who is an Algonquin-Anishinaabe woman who has had an Indigenous lineage for over five generations.
When applying for Indian status, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada denied her because of a policy (Proof of Paternity Policy) that stated if a grandfather was not listed on the child's birth certificate, he was assumed to be non-Indian, thus denying her eligibility even though her grandmother was Indigenous.
Dr. Gehl fought this decision and argued that this policy would place women at a disadvantage in gaining Indian status, and in April of 2017, the Ontario Court of Appeal decided that denying her status was unreasonable and this decision led to new amendments to the Indian Act to address circumstances of unknown or unstated parentage.

Citation

Gehl v. Canada (Attorney General), 2017 ONCA 319 (CanLII), <https://canlii.ca/t/h38cq>, retrieved on 2021-07-22