UPDATE 1-Canada Supreme Court grants status to once-excluded aboriginals

(Adds context, reaction from parties, prime minister)
By Ethan Lou
TORONTO, April 14 (Reuters) - Canada's Supreme Court ruled
on Thursday that more than 600,000 aboriginal people previously
denied special legal status by the federal government should
receive it, granting potential access to new rights and
benefits.
The court declared that Metis people - those of mixed
aboriginal and European descent - and aboriginals not registered
with the government are "Indians" under the Constitution Act of
1867, placing them in federal jurisdiction with respect to
rights and benefits.
The ruling allows Metis and unregistered aboriginals, or
"non-status Indians," to negotiate with the federal government
for some of the same rights and benefits granted aboriginal
people living on reserves. These include hunting and fishing
privileges, tax breaks and assistance for medication, housing
and education.
The case began in 1999, with the Congress of Aboriginal
Peoples and one Metis and two non-status Indians as plaintiffs.
A lower court had initially ruled in the plaintiffs' favor,
but the then-Conservative government raised the case to the
Federal Court of Appeal, which upheld the previous ruling on
Metis, but not unregistered aboriginals.
Joe Magnet, lawyer for the plaintiffs, said outside court
that the lack of "Indian" status meant a lack of access to
benefits and services some aboriginals badly needed.
"We will look forward to engaging the government as to how
these discriminatory practices should be removed," he said.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said after the ruling
the government respects the court's decision and looks forward
to talks.
"Canadians who don't have the same chances as other
Canadians do - that is something that has been going on for far
too long," he told reporters at an event in southern Ontario.
Canada's aboriginals have higher poverty levels and a lower
life expectancy than other Canadians and are more often victims
of violent crime, addiction and incarceration.
Trudeau's Liberal government announced additional funding in
last month's federal budget for First Nations communities in a
bid for renewed, positive relations.
According to federal data, the Canadian government spent
C$8.1 billion ($6.32 billion) from 2014 to 2015 on aboriginal
funding. There are roughly 700,000 status Indians and more than
400,000 Metis and 200,000 non-status Indians.
One of the plaintiffs, Metis activist Harry Daniels, died
before the case was heard. His son, Gabriel Daniels, who later
joined the lawsuit, said his father "would probably be doing a
jig right now."
($1 = 1.2812 Canadian dollars)