B.C. Premier David Eby says on Monday that his government will not move forward with suspending or amending the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA).
Speaking to reporters in the B.C. Legislature in Victoria, he says that no legislation will be introduced this spring session.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO 1130 NEWSRADIO VANCOUVER LIVE!
Eby says that his government is now planning to find solutions to the government’s concern regarding property rights in cooperation with First Nations.
He did not specify if this means that his government will table another legislation later this year.
“Together [The Government and First Nations Leadership Council], we commit to genuine collaboration to find solutions as soon as possible, and before the fall legislative session,” a written statement added.
The province already confirmed on Sunday that the premier would back down on the suspension of key parts of the legislation, scrapping plans to table legislation which was originally planned for Monday.
One source says the suspension bill — which was already delayed last week — won’t be tabled this legislative session, as a result of planned protests by First Nations.
In his statements, Eby says that his government was prepared to table the legislation on Monday, but changed course at the last minute because conversations with the First Nations Leadership Council (FNLC) over the weekend opened up another avenue that would allow for working on changes to DRIPA in “partnership rather than in conflict.”
Eby admits that it has been the most challenging time of his tenure so far and justifies reversing course because it is a “historic legacy of government.”
“This agreement with the First Nations Leadership Council enables us to do the work to jointly develop that long-term solution,” Eby said.
He explains that it was B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma who spoke with many First Nations Chiefs over the previous few days and made the agreement possible.
“I want to thank the Attorney General for tapping me on the shoulder and creating the space for this conversation to be able to happen.”
The latest plan to table the suspension on Monday lasted just a few hours after it emerged Sunday, and was immediately repudiated by First Nations leaders who have also opposed previous plans to amend DRIPA instead.
National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations Cindy Woodhouse says Eby’s behaviour has been disheartening.
“The B.C. premier’s move to try and undermine First Nations rights is shameful. We reject any attempt to dilute, amend, repeal, or suspend DRIPA,” Woodhouse told CityNews Monday.
“Everything about this action is completely contrary to the spirit of the declaration and the province’s own legislation.”
She says the assembly believes in progress and prosperity for all people, but “not at the expense of our rights.”
Woodhouse thanked the many people who stood with First Nations, potentially driving Eby’s decision to back down.
Politically, one expert says Eby’s actions have been inexplicable.
“We have seen him effectively reverse course on a reversal of a reverse course. Now, I think by one count we’ve seen six different positions taken by the premier on this issue,” said UBC Political Science Lecturer Stewart Prest.
“Clearly, this isn’t working.”
He says Eby needs to find an approach that at least his caucus will support, “let alone Indigenous communities and their leadership.”
Prest says Eby has created a “vacuum” of division in the province, attempting to handle reconciliation, prior consent regarding development on Indigenous land, and, separately but in parallel, Indigenous land claims that concern privately owned land.
“We have this basket of issues that have bubbled up through a couple of court decisions, and they’re serious. They’re thorny. There isn’t a single obvious answer for how to resolve these, but quick legislative pauses are not going to get us there. They require more careful reflection.”
He says he believes there is a path forward, but the premier now has to rebuild B.C.’s trust to proceed.
“Even those who are not as deeply worried about this particular basket of issues it is simply showing that this premier cannot navigate through these choppy waters in a coherent direction. It’s forward and back and forward and back and forward and back again, leaving us nowhere.”
In an interview with CityNews, Trevor Halford, the interim leader of the B.C. Conservatives, calls the premier “paralyzed.”
“I think that he’s incapable of making tough decisions. He’s gone into different rooms and said different things,” Halford said.
“Now, for him to say that there will be no legislation coming forward, I think this was his making. For him now to retreat on all of this shows that we are not really sure who is governing this province at this point.”
He says that his party advocates for repealing DRIPA in its entirety.
“I don’t believe that reconciliation needs to be legislated, but we would do that, and I think that we would be giving British Columbians and First Nations the certainty that they’ve been calling for,” Halford explained.
This is a developing story. More to come.
—With files from The Canadian Press, and Kurt Black
