A First Nations group says the British Columbia government's plan to suspend sections of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, or DRIPA, represents a "unilateral betrayal" designed to pave the way for its repeal.
The First Nations Leadership Council says Premier David Eby has "broken the trust" built between his late predecessor, John Horgan, and First Nations.
The scathing response comes after Eby sent a letter to Indigenous leaders on Wednesday, saying he regrets not having more time in the legislative calendar to talk about the government’s plans to suspend sections of DRIPA, which has created political and legal friction.
In its statement, the leadership council says the suspension has been "falsely framed" by Eby as "a compromise and an accommodation," saying its effect is the same as amending the legislation, which First Nations have previously opposed.
It says the proposed pause "will effectively neutralize all positive law obligations" for the current term of the B.C. New Democrat government.
The council says and "kicks implementation" of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples — on which DRIPA is based — "down the path for a new government to address."
The suspension plan, which was announced to First Nations leaders by Eby last week, is "a unilateral betrayal and an abandonment of the province’s commitment to principled reconciliation, as well as serving to create a climate of uncertainty," according to the council statement, issued Thursday morning.
Eby has said that the government faces "very serious litigation risk" from a December court decision known as the Gitxaala ruling, that says DRIPA should be "properly interpreted" to incorporate the UN declaration into B.C. laws "with immediate legal effect."
In Eby's letter, obtained by The Canadian Press, he tries to explain the predicament his government is in over DRIPA, saying the suspension of parts of the act is necessary because the recent B.C. Appeal Court ruling on mining rules creates an "untenable degree of legal uncertainty."
Eby says the ruling means every provincial law can be challenged for being inconsistent with the UN declaration.
The premier says the suspension of parts of the act "avoids permanent changes" to the legislation and "preserves the space" for the Supreme Court of Canada to provide clarity about the mining rules decision before any other changes are considered.
But the leadership council's statement quotes Robert Phillips of the First Nations Summit saying that “suspension is a wolf in sheep’s clothing."
"It is presented as a compromise, but it achieves all the same goals of gutting the Declaration Act in the short term, while the NDP pursues an appeal in court to undermine the Declaration Act in the long term," he says.
"B.C. First Nations know this is a false offer and we cannot accept it.”
The legislature vote on the suspension of sections of DRIPA is one of confidence and the NDP government has a single-seat majority, with three Indigenous members.
Eby said on Wednesday that all his caucus members recognize the importance of the work for the future of the economy.
Several First Nations leaders have already opposed the pause, saying that the government has misinterpreted the legal implications of the B.C. Appeal Court case.
Eby's letter said the court decision shifts the process from one where government and nations work collaboratively to one "driven by costly, time-consuming litigation, and it introduces an untenable degree of legal uncertainly."
"We are already seeing unintended consequences as a result," he said, noting that multiple litigations have already been filed that ask the courts to align their legal claims with the UN declaration.
"We made these concerns clear when the decision was released in December and we have been engaging with First Nations leaders on a possible approach going forward," the letter says.
The letter to leaders and chiefs says the government understands they don't support any amendments to the Declaration Act and "certainly not any unilaterally proposed by government without adequate time to consult and co-operate with First Nations."
But Eby says this approach does not make permanent changes to the legislation and the suspension is time-limited, automatically expires after a set maximum period and can be ended at any time.
"What I can commit to you to is that this legislation is not the end of our conversation — it is a pause designed to protect the space for a better one," he says.
Phillips of the First Nations Summit has called on the three Indigenous members of Eby's caucus to either stand down or vote against the pause, but Eby says he has the votes to pass the legislation.
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
