The DRIPA Factor and BC’s Election

In the spring, Premier David Eby insisted that amending the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act was so important that he was ready to send the province to an election over it.

So with the snap election now on, it is noteworthy that DRIPA — the law that set British Columbia on a path to align the province’s laws with the 46 articles of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples — is not mentioned at all in the NDP platform.

The closest the platform comes is a pledge to “Build major projects, in partnership with First Nations.”

And the section on the environment says, “Protecting the oldest and rarest trees requires working directly with First Nations and supporting forest workers and communities through the transition to sustainable forestry.”

That compares to a BC Green Party platform that dedicates a couple of pages and a list of commitments to “Indigenous rights” and one from the BC Conservative Party that makes a promise to “Repeal DRIPA” followed by language about the need to build lasting relationships with First Nations.

When DRIPA became law in 2019, passed unanimously and with celebration in the legislature, Eby was the Attorney General in late premier John Horgan’s government.

Eby has previously said the government’s intention was always to bring the province’s laws into alignment with UNDRIP carefully and gradually, but it needed to pause sections of the act after a December 2025 BC Court of Appeal decision in the Gitxaala case about mining claims.

The Gitxaala decision forced the government to make the transition immediately, Eby said, likening it to being made to eat an elephant in one sitting.

In a two-to-one decision, three Appeal Court justices overturned a BC Supreme Court decision and ruled the province had incorporated UNDRIP into its laws through DRIPA and that the province’s “free entry” mineral tenure system, which allows claims to be staked online, was inconsistent with UNDRIP.

The Supreme Court had already found that the mineral tenure system breached the Crown’s duty to consult under the Canadian Constitution and needed to be modernized to allow for consultation with Indigenous nations.

The decision was being cited in other court cases and may lead to the courts requiring the province to amend more of its laws, Eby said, making it urgent to change DRIPA.

While the parties have not focused on DRIPA during the campaign, perhaps reflecting the relatively small number of voters who cite it as a top issue in opinion polls, the leaders did canvass it during the only televised debate.

Eby cited challenging court decisions, then said working with First Nations is a cornerstone to the province’s success.

“If we want to take advantage of the incredible prosperity out there, there's only one path forward, and that's in partnership with the Indigenous people in this province,” he said.

DRIPA enables the partnerships that have led to new mines opening and the decision by investors to move ahead with the second phase of LNG Canada, he said.

“We cannot afford to have these major projects tied up in the courts and not delivering jobs and opportunity for British Columbians.”

BC Conservative interim leader Lorne Doerkson said DRIPA needs to be repealed because it hasn’t helped British Columbians.

“It has created more division on the landscape than I have ever seen in my life, and this legislation is not that old,” he said. “There has to be a better path forward, and that is through respect and relations and certainly partnerships with First Nations in this province, and I'm absolutely committed to that.”

Emily Lowan, the leader of the BC Green Party said she takes the advice of First Nations leaders on DRIPA.

“They've been unequivocal in saying that we must do the work of implementing DRIPA,” she said.

“Frankly, when we talk about certainty, the uncertainty that has been sown over the last year has been from a premier who can't seem to make up his mind, and it's been from a Conservative Party that is constantly pushing misinformation and blatant fear-mongering,” Lowan added. “We've seen from both parties just a willingness to engage on this bad-faith argument.”

She criticized the other party leaders for tying DRIPA to private property rights in their comments, which it has nothing to do with, and said the Gitxaala case was filed because the government failed to do the hard work of reconciliation.

The court overturned an “arcane, outdated” law, she said. “I believe that the Gitxaala did a great service to us.”

“On DRIPA I was appalled by the other parties’ responses to this question,” Lowan told The Tyee following the debate. “The claim that either by amending or repealing DRIPA we could just march forward in good relationship with Indigenous nations is absolutely absurd and arrogant.”

The premier has had ample time to do the work necessary to defend DRIPA and explain to the public why it was passed unanimously, she said.

“What we’ve seen from Eby and the BC NDP is this is yet another example of them flying in the wind, appealing to conservative voters, rather than just standing firm in their values.”

The Tŝilhqot’in Nation, whose territory is in the constituency Doerkson represents, released a statement encouraging voters to reject the politics of fear and division and instead demand “a positive, unifying vision for the province that makes us stronger together.”

“Repealing DRIPA is a slogan, not a plan,” said Nits’ilʔin Otis Guichon, Sr., Tribal Chief for the Tŝilhqot’in National Government, in the statement. “Amending DRIPA will not make Indigenous people go away or erase our international human rights.

Political leaders need to be held to a higher standard than they’ve maintained during their campaigns, Guichon said. “Attacking Aboriginal title does not change the reality that our title exists, is protected by the Constitution and must be respected.”

In the spring, when Eby was pressing to amend DRIPA, Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs and the husband of late NDP MLA Joan Phillip, said “there’s absolutely nothing wrong with DRIPA” and it should not be changed.

“I think the problem is Premier Eby himself and the NDP has a colossal leadership problem here in British Columbia,” he said at the time. “I would suggest the NDP deal with their leadership issue or the whole party’s going to meet its demise.”

With final voting day on Saturday and the NDP consistently trailing in the polls, it’s advice some in the party may be wishing they’d taken.