VICTORIA, B.C. – As the only party in the Legislature supporting the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) as written, the BC Greens presented a constructive path forward on its advancement, shared directly with Attorney General Niki Sharma last week (see here).
“The Government has spent months avoiding and delaying good faith negotiations with First Nations. We hope that they have now realised that the only path forward is active reconciliation, as defined in legislation. The problem isn’t DRIPA. The problem is the government’s failure to implement DRIPA. We provided a constructive plan to resolve tension, increase certainty, and advance DRIPA to the government,” said BC Green House Leader Rob Botterell, MLA for Saanich North and the Islands.
“We hope that the Premier’s decision to stand down DRIPA amendments means his government is finally ready to collaborate with First Nations, as equals. Eby must act on his predecessor John Horgan’s words: ‘History is littered with words that were not followed up with actions.’ Reconciliation, as Horgan proclaimed, is ‘not for wimps.’”
The BC Greens credit First Nations across British Columbia for holding the line in the face of growing political pressure and misinformation.
“First Nations have shown extraordinary leadership and patience throughout this process,” said Botterell. “Even as they’ve been unfairly stereotyped and vilified in public debate, they have continued to push for collaboration, clarity, and progress. The Legislature should respond in kind.
“The Premier, mirroring the Conservatives, has been reckless with the truth, aimless in his leadership, and irresponsible in putting political calculations ahead of the human rights of First Nations. That inconsistency has fuelled confusion and made First Nations a scapegoat for the Crown’s ineptitude.”
While welcoming the government’s new position to partner with First Nations, BC Green Leader Emily Lowan says the instability leading to this point was entirely avoidable and is calling on the Premier to be taken off the reconciliation file.
“Premier Eby bears full responsibility for the social and economic disruption of attempting to weaken the rights of Indigenous people,” said Lowan. “The spineless waffling week by week is not leadership. It has undermined trust in government and weakened the foundation reconciliation requires. The Premier has fomented misinformation and allowed hate to spread. The government has a long road to repair that.”
“When DRIPA unanimously passed in 2019, it signified a fundamental change in governance. We were meant to see an end to unilateral decisions from the Premier’s office, forced onto nations, but instead genuine respect, reconciliation, and co-governance. The past six months have shown that Eby’s cowardly leadership and centralized control results in the kind of chaos he has been critiquing,” said Lowan. “This is the story of a government who does not know what it stands for, a Premier without a moral centre. There is only one path to end this embarrassing stain on the BC NDP’s tenure: implement DRIPA, transparently, alongside nations, and withdraw any suspension or amendments.”
“Reconciliation is not a slogan,” added Lowan. “The onus is on the Legislative Assembly to support, work, and stand alongside First Nations and the public through the process of implementing DRIPA.”
BC Greens Leader Emily Lowan and MLA Rob Botterell will be available to the media following Question Period today, April 20.
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