April 9, 2026
(xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C.) – The First Nations Leadership Council (FNLC) opposes the B.C. Government’s proposal to suspend key provisions of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA or “Declaration Act”) and the Interpretation Act, calling it a unilateral betrayal and an abandonment of the Province’s commitment to principled reconciliation, as well as serving to create a climate of uncertainty.
On April 2, 2026, Premier Eby announced that his government will not proceed with amendments to the Declaration Act and Interpretation Act as it had been considering since January, amendments that have been forcefully rejected by First Nations in B.C.
Suspension, as proposed, will place the most critical sections of the Declaration Act, and Interpretation Act on hold and without legal effect until May 31, 2029 while this NDP Government seeks to bring its attack on the Gitxaala B.C. Court of Appeal (BCCA) decision to the Supreme Court of Canada, applying for leave to appeal a ruling that found the Province failed to consult and accommodate and found BC’s tenure approval process unlawful. In its leave application, BC argues that the BCCA was wrong, and that the Declaration Act does not give courts a mandate to determine inconsistency between the UN Declaration and provincial laws.
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