Is there a link between the new Secure Certificate of Indian Status and the Jay Treaty?
• No. The Jay Treaty of 1794 provided free border crossing rights for “the Indians dwelling on either side of the boundary line” between Upper and Lower Canada and the United States, and exemption from duty or taxes on their “own proper goods” when crossing the border. After the War of 1812, the Treaty of Ghent between Britain and the United States was intended to restore the border crossing rights of the Jay Treaty, but legislation implementing these rights in Upper and Lower Canada lapsed. Because of this, the Jay Treaty is not recognized in Canada. There is therefore no link between the new Secure Certificate of Indian Status and the Jay Treaty. In the 1920s, the United States changed its immigration laws and ever since Canadian-born people with at least 50 per cent Aboriginal blood can enter, live in and work in the United States without immigration restrictions.
