Once You Repeal DRIPA, What’s Your Plan?

Open Letter to BC Conservative Leader Trevor Halford

Dear Mr. Halford,

Congratulations on your appointment as the interim leader of the BC Conservative Party.

In one of your first acts as leader you called a media availability in front of the empty legislative chamber to demand Premier David Eby recall BC MLAs to repeal the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (“DRIPA” or the “Declaration Act”).

Your call for the government to repeal the Declaration Act may be politically expedient, an attempt to placate the vocal far-right history denialists who blame a so-called “reconciliation industry” for a host of grievances, but then what? What is your plan? What is the BC Conservatives policy for respectful Crown-Indigenous relations and upholding British Columbia law?

The rights don’t go away. Section 35 of the Constitution doesn’t go away. The Douglas Treaties and other pre-Confederation treaty rights don’t go away. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) still exists as a global standard and as federal law.

The Declaration Act doesn’t create rights. It is a commitment and a framework to implement the rights that already exist. Repealing it doesn’t solve the problem but breathes new life into the generational conflict that has limited the potential of our province.

Refresher on the Declaration Act

The Declaration Act commits the Province to working in good faith, from the beginning, and on terms that reflect the legal reality of Aboriginal rights and title in Canada. It is a platform for consent-based decision-making. It increases certainty, and properly administered, it could be a useful tool to reduce the number of times we are dragged into Indigenous-Crown litigation to defend what the courts have already repeatedly established and affirmed.

Repealing the Declaration Act would remove an important mechanism to address those rights collaboratively. Such a politicalization of the Crown-Indigenous relationship is unnecessary, and only leads to more conflict in the courts, delays for investors and governments, disrupted partnerships and agreements, and uncertainty in resource and land use decisions.

The Conservative Contradiction

There appears to be a substantial contradiction in your Indigenous policy that your recent public communication illuminated. In your media availability, you stated “to be very clear, we campaigned on repealing DRIPA.” However, that “clarity” cannot be found in your 2024 BC Conservative Party platform. Instead, it states as government you,

Will “pursue reimbursement from the federal government through the appropriate legal avenues, ensuring that Ottawa’s responsibilities are met. UNDRIP will continue to be the guiding framework for this accountability.” (p. 12)

“DRIPA legislation was intended to represent a shift towards reconciliation and the recognition of Indigenous self-determination in British Columbia. However, its implementation and interpretation by the NDP has stalled Indigenous-led development in industries like mining, forestry, natural gas, and other sectors.” (p. 14)

“Will honour the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) as it was intended,” (p. 14) and

“Will work in partnership with First Nations to develop new legislation that advances, not stalls, economic reconciliation.” (p. 14)

So, which is it?

The BC Conservatives have an internal reconciliation problem of your own. How do you reconcile your call to repeal the Declaration Act while in your election promises to British Columbians claim to honour the very declaration that law was designed to implement. Either your party misled the public in your 2024 platform, or you don’t fundamentally understand what it being repealed. Either way, you owe the people of British Columbia, including First Nations, some clarity on this important matter.

Reconciliation by Repeal? British Columbians Deserve Better

The Declaration Act isn’t perfect, but it is a start. It gave Indigenous and non-Indigenous people alike a starting place to work from. If the Conservatives want to repeal it, then you need to show us your plan to replace it with effective public policy that delivers respectful Crown-Indigenous relations. Not slogans. Not soundbites. A real plan.

The future of this province depends on lawful relationships, good-faith partnerships, and on truth, transparency, and the courage to build something better together.

As the leader of the Official Opposition, you have an opportunity to pivot away from the poisonous partisan politics that generates misinformation and disinformation, and instead offer a productive solution for British Columbia to finally resolve these longstanding issues.

Sincerely,

Adam Olsen