Adam Pankratz is a lecturer at the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business and sits on the board of B.C.’s Public Land Use Society.

It has been clear for some months now that David Eby and the B.C. NDP’s approach to Indigenous reconciliation would have ruinous consequences for British Columbia’s economy. Last Friday, the situation got even worse, as a new court ruling poured more cold water on economic activity in the province and opened the door to every B.C. law being subject to interpretation through a United Nations human rights document. The implications for British Columbia could not be much more dire.

On Friday, the B.C. Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the Gitxaala and Ehattesaht First Nations that B.C.’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) — which seeks to align the laws of British Columbia with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) — did in fact affirm UNDRIP as “the interpretive lens through which B.C. laws must be viewed and the minimum standards against which they should be measured.” That is to say that all B.C. laws, even if they have not yet been changed, are immediately subject to interpretation through UNDRIP, when the NDP government had explicitly said that DRIPA was not designed to strike down existing B.C. laws.

A key paragraph in the ruling should raise the alarm for any business considering investing in British Columbia. Paragraph 181 lays out Justice Gail Dickson’s view as to where there could be future potential for dispute arising from DRIPA and the current law of British Columbia. The ruling foresees five areas that are so broad that the court is opening up any and all B.C. laws to interpretation through UNDRIP.

The ruling states areas for dispute could be: “i) whether there is an inconsistency between a British Columbia law and UNDRIP (as in this case); ii) whether the type of inconsistency in issue must be addressed by the Crown taking measures; iii) what measures should be taken; iv) the adequacy of the consultation process; or v) the meaning or extent of ‘cooperation.’”

Read the article at National Post: https://nationalpost.com/opinion/adam-pankratz-b-c-s-reconciliation-nightmare-gets-even-worse