Premier David Eby says his government will amend the legislation recognizing rights of Indigenous peoples.
The B.C. government’s plans to shift the way Aboriginal rights and title are implemented in the province has sparked a flurry of debate among politicians and First Nations leaders.
B.C.’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) was co-developed with First Nations and passed unanimously by all political parties in 2019. It mandates the government to bring provincial laws into alignment with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).
Premier David Eby has pledged to amend the act following court decisions that he said created confusion about the role of DRIPA in practice, saying reconciliation “is not for the courts to take over.”
Robert Phillips, a member of the First Nations Summit’s political executive, told CBC Radio’s The Early Edition Tuesday that amending DRIPA will ultimately ignite a groundswell of opposition and damage work on reconciliation between the province and First Nations.
Á’a:líya Warbus, Conservative MLA for Chilliwack-Cultus Lake and a member of the Sto:lo Nation, told The Early Edition she is in favour of amending the act.
Warbus said DRIPA conflates provincial law with federal law recognizing UNDRIP.
“Indian Act bands or First Nations have been the responsibility of the federal government. That jurisdictional line is very clear,” said Warbus.
“So when we start to conflate provincial frameworks and agreements, and have that duplicity of DRIPA and UNDRIP, of course, there’s gonna be confusion.”
Eby first alluded to plans to amend DRIPA in December, following a ruling by the B.C. Court of Appeal.
Read more at CBC: First Nations leaders in B.C. weigh in on amending DRIPA. They don’t all agree.