FNLC Extremely Disappointed with Mineral Claim Consultation Framework, Calls for Redoubling of Efforts to Align the Mineral Tenure Act with the UN Declaration

January 17, 2025

(xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C.) The First Nations Leadership Council (FNLC) is extremely disappointed with the government of B.C.’s recently introduced Mineral Claim Consultation Framework (MCCF) and will hold the government of B.C. to its legislative obligations and public commitments to align the Mineral Tenure Act (MTA) with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (UN Declaration).

The MCCF reflects a bare interpretation of the government of B.C.’s duty to consult and accommodate and falls well short of the minimum human rights standards outlined in the UN Declaration. Incredibly, the MCCF itself was subject to only minimal consultation and the process outlined in the ‘Interim Approach to Implement the Requirements of Section 3 of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act’ (Interim Approach) was not followed in its development. The government of B.C. must immediately redouble its efforts to fulfill its obligations under section 3 of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act and live up to its repeated public commitments to align the MTA with the UN Declaration in a manner consistent with the Interim Approach.

To read fill release, click “PDF” below and to the right.