Summary
- B.C. Premier David Eby has backed off on permanent changes to the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, following backlash from First Nations leaders.
- Instead, he’s proposing to suspend parts of the Declaration Act for up to three years while the province appeals a court decision.
- The government says the recent court ruling makes changes to the Act urgent, but critics warn they could weaken legal accountability.
After a virtual meeting with First Nations leaders, B.C. Premier David Eby says his government is abandoning its plan to permanently change parts of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act — at least for now.
“We heard loud and clear that this approach was totally unacceptable to First Nations leaders, that it reflected government unilaterally drafting changes to a law that we had worked on together to write, and they felt the process was rushed and that the entirety of that approach was wrong,” Eby told reporters at the legislature on April 2.
In lieu of the amendments he’s been vowing to make for months, the premier is now proposing to suspend parts of the Declaration Act for up to three years while the province appeals a December 2025 decision by the B.C. Court of Appeal.
In its December ruling, the court agreed with the Gitxaała and the Ehattesaht First Nations, which argued the government’s obligations under the Declaration Act — to align provincial laws with the principles of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples — are legally enforceable.
Eby’s proposal would block further court challenges of provincial laws on the grounds that they do not align with the Declaration Act — a move the premier said is critical.
“We have seen court filings now and court decisions that rely on that Court of Appeal decision and the volume of litigation that we face is not sustainable,” he told reporters. “We have to fix it. It is non-negotiable. We have to fix it.”
The premier positioned his new proposal as less definitive and less permanent than the prior amendments, but admitted his latest pitch is not particularly palatable to the First Nations leaders he met with.
“I recognize that Indigenous leadership wants no pause on these sections,” Eby said. “They want no amendments, [but] we have to do something. A pause is, in my opinion, hopefully the least invasive way of addressing government’s concern.”
First Nations leaders will have an opportunity to provide the government with feedback on the new proposal — feedback Eby promised “will be taken seriously” — but the Declaration Act will be modified in some way before the legislature rises for its summer break at the end of May.
Eby confirmed his government intends to draft legislation to suspend parts of the Declaration Act and the Interpretation Act in the coming weeks, introduce it in the legislature and pass it by May 28. And he’s willing to put the future of his government in the balance to get it done.
“This will be a confidence vote,” Eby said. If the majority of MLAs vote against the legislation, the NDP government will have lost the confidence of the house, likely triggering a snap election and possibly Eby’s resignation. Former BC Liberal premier Christy Clark lost a confidence vote in June 2017, resulting in the election that brought the NDP to power.
Eby believes he will not meet the same fate.
“We have a strong and united caucus. All of our MLAs understand the seriousness and importance of our work and partnership with Indigenous people and our commitment to all British Columbians to grow the economy and ensure prosperity for British Columbians.”
Eby’s new proposal would not affect the Declaration Act action plan — a road map for the work the province has committed to undertake with First Nations through 2027 — or the sections of the law that allow joint decision-making agreements with First Nations, according to a spokesperson from the premier’s office.
‘It got inconvenient’
The Declaration Act changes have drawn a lot of interest at a time when high-profile court decisions have thrust Indigenous Rights and Aboriginal Title into the public spotlight.
Prior to Eby’s announcement on April 2, The Narwhal spoke to Adam Olsen, former MLA and lead negotiator for Tsartlip First Nation, lawyer Cynthia Callison and Jessica Clogg, executive director of West Coast Environmental Law and a member of the Gitxaała Nation’s legal team.
In November 2019, Olsen was one of 87 elected officials to vote in favour of passing the Declaration Act. The law’s unanimous passage was hailed as a major accomplishment.
At the time, the government described the act as “a path forward” for relations between First Nations and the province, and a way to avoid long and costly court battles. Now, the province is readying amendments to the Declaration Act, aimed at barring courts from interpreting or applying the law.
“It kind of breaks my heart that in 2019 we get unanimous support in the legislature to move this forward,” Olsen, a former member of the BC Green Party, said in an interview. A member of Tsartlip First Nation, Olsen represented Saanich North and the Islands from 2017 until 2024 before exiting provincial politics. “Now, the same government a couple of years later is going to use the slimmest of majorities — if they can even muster it — to basically amend [the law] because it got inconvenient.”
The legislation that was once celebrated as a major step toward working with First Nations in a better, more equal way has been recast as a destabilizing or even destructive force. Repeal or revise — those seem to be the only two options B.C.’s elected leaders can envision for the Declaration Act.
In November 2019, Adam Olsen was one of the 87 B.C. MLAs who voted in favour of passing the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act. Photo: Province of B.C. / Flickr
“It’s frustrating, sad and angering that our government would set up a binary like that,” Olsen said.
Olsen, who did not seek re-election in the October 2024 provincial election, is now the lead negotiator for Tsartlip First Nation. As a participant in the confidential consultations, he could not discuss any details about the ongoing process but did reflect on the political climate in which the Declaration Act amendments have been proposed.
“This past year for Indigenous relations has been awful. It’s been awful on social media. It’s been awful to hear how the official opposition has handled this,” said Olsen, referring to the BC Conservative Party’s vocal desire to repeal the law altogether.
There were no BC Conservative MLAs in the legislature when the Declaration Act passed in 2019, though MLAs who now represent the party did vote in favour of the law at the time. Former BC Conservative leader John Rustad — who once served as B.C.’s Minister of Aboriginal Affairs — began calling for the Declaration Act’s repeal during his 2024 election campaign. Rustad was ousted as party leader in December and the BC Conservatives are now in the midst of a leadership race to replace him.
The BC Conservatives still support repealing the Declaration Act, interim party leader Trevor Halford told reporters at the legislature on April 1. The legislation, he added, has failed to deliver the stability and reconciliation progress it was intended to deliver.
“As difficult a conversation as that is, I think it’s worth having,” Halford said. “I think that a full repeal actually gives certainty. I do believe that.”
Olsen feels the conversation about Indigenous Rights has shifted so far from where it was in 2019 — when all MLAs voted in support of the Declaration Act.
Public support for the application of the Declaration Act has dropped in recent months, according to a new poll released by Angus Reid. In August, 44 per cent of British Columbians polled felt B.C.’s effort to align its laws with the United Nations declaration had gone “too far in limiting provincial authority over land and resources.” As of this month, 53 per cent of respondents said they think the province’s approach on reconciliation and Indigenous Rights has gone too far.
Clogg believes Eby’s comments about the need to change the Declaration Act have contributed to the decline in public support for reconciliation.
“We need leadership from the highest levels and from all sectors of society to face down racist, populist sentiment and chart a course towards true reconciliation,” she said.
Declaration Act amendments happening quickly
The fact that the government is prioritizing making these changes quickly — by legislative standards — is a further complication. The Declaration Act essentially enshrines the federal United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, or UNDRIP, in B.C. law. That includes Article 19, which states Indigenous Peoples have the right to be consulted and to give free, prior and informed consent on legislation that impacts them.
One thing the ongoing consultations have made clear, Olsen said, is that many First Nations do not want the act changed.
“The ones that have spoken publicly have said that they oppose amendments to the act,” he said.
Dive deeper on this topic
The government’s proposed changes to the Declaration Act will “prevent significant litigation risk for the province of British Columbia,” Eby said in the legislature on March 30. Some First Nations leaders and Indigenous law experts disagree, warning that the tight timeline the government is pursuing to change the act could actually spark more lawsuits.
“I hope that B.C. appreciates that the highly abridged timelines and their intransigence in the face of opposition from civil society groups and First Nations makes them vulnerable to legal challenge should they proceed on the originally proposed timeline,” Clogg said.
Eby admitted that consultations with First Nations are being “rushed,” but maintained the province has no other option.
“We are having to move quickly to make amendments in order to address some serious legal liabilities that were created … through the court decision,” he told reporters. “Nobody is excited about this process. Certainly I’m not, and First Nations leadership are not.”
The condensed consultation timeline and vocal opposition from First Nations should give lawmakers “extreme caution” about the quality of the process for changing the law — or risk ending up right back in court, Olsen argued.
“If they’re going to table a bill, they need to be very comfortable that their consultation record is impeccable,” he said.
Proposed amendments would block First Nations from defending their rights in court, legal expert says
Non-disclosure agreements notwithstanding, the Canadian Press reported on some of the government’s proposed changes to the Declaration Act last week.
According to the Canadian Press, leaked documents included a change in the wording of the Declaration Act, narrowing the government’s commitment to take “all measures” to ensure provincial laws align with the United Nations declaration. . The amended law would task the government only with aligning laws deemed to be a priority, the Canadian Press reported.
For Cynthia Callison, a partner with Callison & Hanna Law who has advocated for First Nations in B.C. for 29 years, the proposed changes reported last week do not seem to materially change the province’s approach to implementing the Declaration Act to date.
Premier David Eby has admitted many First Nations are unhappy with the proposed changes to the Declaration Act, and how fast the government wants them to happen.. Photo: Indigenous Resource Opportunities Conference
“They have not been working on aligning all laws, they have been working on priorities,” Callison, who was appointed King’s Counsel by the province in January, told The Narwhal in an interview. King’s Counsel designations recognize lawyers for their expertise and significant contributions to the judicial system.
Those priorities outlined in the action plan include self-government and anti-racism initiatives, changes to family services and emergency management programs and pathways for joint decision-making on resource management.
The proposed amendments leaked to the Canadian Press indicate to Clogg that the government is moving toward doing exactly what Eby said it would do in December: block the courts from being able to hold the government to account when First Nations take issue with its progress on reconciliation.
“The amendments that are proposed are designed to deny First Nations access to the courts to defend their Indigenous human rights,” she said, adding these amendments are “essentially an effort to avoid that accountability.”
When the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act passed unanimously in the B.C. legislature in 2019, First Nations leaders joined provincial politicians to celebrate the occasion. Now many of those leaders are calling on the province not to change the act. Photo: Province of B.C. / Flickr
The recent court cases that the premier has taken issue with — specifically the Cowichan Tribes ruling and the Gitxaała decision — were “never a priority for the province and are not part of their action plan,” Callison added.
Canadian Press also reported the government is planning to add language to the Declaration Act to allow the province to make changes to the action plan, potentially without the support of First Nations. That could make the action plan more vulnerable to political whims, Callison said.
B.C. government is once again pushing legislation over the objections of First Nations
This isn’t the first time Eby’s government has side-stepped its consultation obligations to First Nations.
In May 2025, Bill 15, which granted cabinet broad powers to fast-track infrastructure projects, prompted vocal opposition from many, including Don Tom, Chief of the Tsartlip First Nation and vice-president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs. Eby has acknowledged his government failed to meet the consultation standard set in the Declaration Act at times but insisted his government was not backsliding on its commitments to reconciliation and Indigenous Rights.
Dive deeper on this topic
Now, the province is once again pushing legislation that has drawn strong criticism from First Nations leaders.
“This is two spring sessions in a row where First Nations leaders are in the spotlight, not for any of their own doings, but because of what the provincial government is up to,” Olsen said. “When Premier Eby says, ‘We are really keen on reconciliation and it’s still a top priority’ — well, the behavior seems to be quite confrontational with First Nations, rather than relational.”
Clogg was more blunt.
“There is nothing about the way B.C. is approaching this that remotely could be called cooperation or co-development,” she said. “It’s an entirely unilaterally driven, expedited process.”
Despite the mounting objections from First Nations leaders, Eby confirmed on April 1, the amendments will be introduced in the coming weeks.
“The amendments will be introduced with lots of time for debate and discussion in the legislature,” he said.
Olsen warned the premier’s plan to push ahead with the controversial amendments to the Declaration Act could land his government in a quagmire.
“The premier has backed himself into a corner. Now he’s making quicksand.”
