THE PASS SYSTEM

After the Northwest Resistance of 1885, three Canadian officials put forward a proposal for a system of racial segregation – whites from First Nations – to their Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, who enthusiastically approves, declaring: “…it is in the highest degree desirable to adopt it.” From then on, and for over 60 years, permits to leave reserve would only be issued at the pleasure of an Indian Agent. From day one, the Canadian government knew this segregationist pass system had no legal basis.

The system kept First Nations parents from their children in residential schools, from visiting relatives, from access to towns and cities, and from enjoying the basic freedom of mobility that every settler Canadian took for granted.