September 24, 2025
(xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C.) The First Nations Leadership Council (FNLC) is reaffirming its strong support for updating the Heritage Conservation Act (HCA), a long-overdue modernization of outdated legislation that has not been substantively amended since 1996.
Robert Phillips, First Nations Summit Political Executive and FNLC representative on the Joint Working Group on First Nations Heritage Conservation (JWGFNHC), stated “We are only at the beginning of a long legislative process that began with Phase 1 engagements in 2022. We have recently entered Phase 3 — moving from policy intentions into getting input from First Nations, local governments, and stakeholders on draft legislative proposals based on what we’ve heard through past engagement in Phases 1 and 2. The door is wide open for anyone to provide input at this critical time, before the Request for Legislation, and then the legislation itself, is drafted. We cannot allow fearmongering to derail a process that will deliver better protection, more transparency, and faster decisions for everyone.”
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