The interim leader of the Conservative Party of B.C. says Premier David Eby must immediately recall the legislature to repeal the province’s Declaration on the Rights of the Indigenous Peoples Act and related legislation.
Trevor Halford says his party is “prepared to work co-operatively” after a court ruling found that the provincial mineral claims regime is “inconsistent” with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The appeal ruling says that the provincial declaration should be “properly interpreted” to incorporate UNDRIP into provincial laws with immediate effect.
Halford says that this decision opens up the door for judges, instead of MLAs, to decide whether provincial laws are inconsistent with UNDRIP, and only a full repeal of DRIPA can restore what he calls “legislative supremacy and clarity for everyone involved.”
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Halford says provincial law should “follow a principled approach” to Reconciliation, “one that does not disrupt the delicate balance of prosperity and true democratic process.”
The legislature concluded its fall session on Wednesday, but Halford says he does not see any logistical reasons why MLAs could not convene again with remote access by video available.
Premier David Eby said Friday at an unrelated news conference that government will review the decision, and amend the legislation if necessary, saying that it “potentially puts courts in the driver’s seat instead of British Columbians.”
Eby said that it is “absolutely crucial” that British Columbians rather than the courts remain in control of this process through “their elected representatives.”
First Nations Leadership Council and the BC Civil Liberties Association said in a joint statement that the decision “breathes new life” into DRIPA, affirming the legal effects of the UN declaration.
The court found that the province’s automated online registry permitting “free miners” to register claims on mineral rights on Crown land before consulting affected First Nations was inconsistent with the Crown’s duty to consult, following a challenge from two B.C. First Nations.
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