MLA Elenore Sturko says people in B.C. didn’t vote in the United Nations to govern them, nor to take away their rivate property rights.
Sturko, former Conservative and now Independent MLA for the riding of Surrey-Cloverdale, said in a Nov. 13 press release Premier David Eby and the NDP government must “amend” the Interpretation Act. She wants them to remove the requirement that B.C. provincial laws be “interpreted through the lens” of UNDRIP (United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples).
She added that Section 8.1 of the Interpretation Act “requires judges to interpret every B.C. law using UNDRIP.” This change was made by Eby when he was Attorney General in 2021.
Sturko wants Eby to immediately repeal section 8.1 of the Interpretation Act.
“British Columbians did not elect the UN to govern their province, and they certainly didn’t know that UNDRIP would be used to strip them of their private property rights, which is what is happening,” said Sturko. “I would also ask the members of the legislature who supported UNDRIP if they knew David Eby was going to use UNDRIP to sideline provincial law and private property rights? I don’t think so.”
She said Eby is pretending to be surprised by the Cowichan Tribes decision, as he was the one who added section 8.1 to the Act.
“While the Interpretation Act, and its reference to UNDRIP, was not the only basis on which Supreme Court Justice Barbara Young reached her decision on Cowichan Tribes v. Canada, she relied on this to support her conclusion that the Land Titles Act does not protect property owners from Aboriginal title claims,” she added.
Young’s ruling stated:
“I find support for the view that the indefeasibility provisions in the LTA do not apply as against Aboriginal title in s. 8.1 of the Interpretation Act, which directs that legislation be interpreted in a manner that does not derogate from Aboriginal rights. To construe it otherwise would also be inconsistent with UNDRIP….”
Sturko noted that she doesn’t believe the government had the blessings of voters to radically change the law in B.C.
“We talk a lot about informed consent when it comes to reconciliation,” she added, “but I do not believe that this government received the informed consent of British Columbians to fundamentally change the governance of our province.”
Bill 29—the Interpretation Amendment Act, 2021—can be found by visiting bclaws.gov.bc.ca.