B.C. Premier David Eby has outlined a plan for B.C. and First Nations to co-develop a joint approach to the province’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) before the fall session begins in October.
The premier said his government will not introduce legislation to suspend or amend DRIPA in the spring legislative session, as he had planned.
Eby, whose plans to amend DRIPA have faced numerous changes in recent weeks in the face of mounting pressure from First Nations leaders and criticism within his own caucus, told reporters he would have liked to have been “right the first time” on the reconciliation law, but he was not.
“This has been, if I can speak frankly, probably the most challenging issue I’ve worked on in government,” he said in the legislature to a crowd of reporters.
“It is absolutely possible, as a leader, to move off confidently in the wrong direction.”
Eby said he “accepts the responsibility” of taking the government in different directions, and says he feels this is the first step toward a lasting solution.
“The government and First Nations leadership are committed to working together on a path forward to discuss and consider the government’s stated real concerns,” he said in a statement created alongside the First Nations Leadership Council.
A leaked document shared with CBC News outlined the proposed structure. It would include a steering committee — chaired by Attorney General Niki Sharma and a First Nation leader — which would meet every two months, a task force chaired by a deputy minister, and a smaller industry and stakeholder consultative body.
The premier’s latest pivot, in which he announced legislation to amend DRIPA would not be tabled this spring, came after a letter from a coalition of First Nations leaders urged MLAs to vote against the amendments, which they said would be introduced this week.
DRIPA, B.C.’s landmark reconciliation legislation which received unanimous support when it passed in 2019, requires the province to align all its legislation with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
In the wake of the Gitxaała decision, which found that the province’s system of granting mineral rights was inconsistent with DRIPA, Eby said the legislation would have to be changed due to serious legal liabilities.
Earlier this month, he said changes to DRIPA were “non-negotiable.”
Facing mounting pressure from First Nations leaders, Eby then announced a plan to suspend parts of DRIPA for up to three years. It would be a confidence vote, he said, which would trigger an election if the legislation failed to pass.
Eby later walked back his intentions to make it a vote of confidence, after sources told CBC News more than 10 NDP MLAs spoke out internally against the amendments.
First Nation leaders say work needed to repair relationships
Ahead of Eby’s comments on Monday, former B.C. Green MLA Adam Olsen said that there is a middle ground, but work needs to be done to undo a long history of denying Indigenous rights.
“This is a moment where we can pivot from the chaos that we’ve experienced over the last four-and-a-half months,” he said.
“If everybody in this place is saying that they want certainty, then that’s going to be through relationship-building with First Nations.”
Cindy Woodhouse, national chief with the Assembly of First Nations, said the premier’s “unilateral decision” to amend DRIPA came as a “huge step backwards for human rights and for reconciliation in our country.”
She expects it will take work to repair relationships with Indigenous communities going forward, which she says needs to involve giving First Nations a real seat at the table.
“He needs to speak directly to the rights holders on the ground in British Columbia,” she said. “They’re going to have to continue to talk and try and repair the relationship after this, it’s disheartening.”
Opposition parties, expert criticize Eby’s leadership
B.C. Green Party Leader Emily Lowan said the situation resulted from the government’s “complete failure” to properly communicate with the public on DRIPA. However, she welcomed Eby’s decision to work with First Nations on a path forward.
“After months of misinformation and fearmongering and ineffective leadership, this is a move towards effective collaboration,” she said.
B.C. Conservative interim leader Trevor Halford, whose party has called for a full recall of DRIPA, said the premier has displayed a “complete abdication of leadership.”
“He has now changed positions on one of the most important issues that we’ve faced in decades six times,” Halford said.
“You cannot govern a province under this kind of duress.”
Stewart Prest, a political science lecturer at the University of British Columbia, said Eby has looked repeatedly for a “quick political solution” to address DRIPA.
This latest move shows the premier has given up on a quick solution and is taking a step back, Prest says, but also signals deeper challenges for Eby.
“I think the fact that he has tried and failed repeatedly to have put in place some kind of quick fix on the issue leaves him looking like he doesn’t know how to lead the province forward on this issue. “
With plans to suspend or amend DRIPA off the table for now, it remains unclear what, if any, legislation he intends to pursue.
