B.C.’s NDP government is pulling back on its plan to introduce legislation this week to pause or suspend sections of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA).
And the NDP will no longer risk an election by making it a confidence vote when the legislation is eventually introduced.
With a one-vote majority — and Indigenous NDP MLA Joan Phillip opposed — government House Leader Mike Farnworth acknowledged the NDP does not have the votes to pass the changes as currently proposed.
“Joan has indicated she’s not able to vote for the bill,” Farnworth said.
The eventual legislation will likely look different than what has so far been proposed, which is to suspend parts of DRIPA and related legislation for up to three years.
“We are working with First Nations and with Joan to make sure that the bill that comes in is the right bill,” Farnworth said.
First Nations have vehemently opposed amending or repealing DRIPA, with Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs calling for Premier David Eby’s ouster because of how engagement with Indigenous leaders was conducted. Grand Chief Phillip and MLA Phillip are married.
Farnworth did not provide details of what the eventual bill will contain, but said more First Nations consultation is planned.
Eby said the focus had shifted to whether a failed vote would send the province to an election — something he did not want — rather than the merits of the legislation.
“No one on our team has any interest in sending British Columbia into an election,” he said.
Eby also told reporters that his government is willing to extend the spring session beyond May 28 to allow for debate.
“If necessary, the house leader has made clear that he is willing to extend the time for the session to be able to have that debate,” Eby said.
DRIPA is a 2019 bill that commits the province to aligning its laws with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, a proclamation of the right to sovereignty for Indigenous people worldwide.
Eby contends the intention of DRIPA is for the government itself to work to align all provincial law with the U.N. declaration through legislation. But in December, an appeals court decision invalidated existing B.C. law using DRIPA, setting a precedent Eby says put the province in legal jeopardy.
The premier now wants to amend or suspend the law, warning that more than 20 lawsuits are now using DRIPA to challenge the province’s laws. Meanwhile, the B.C. Conservatives want to repeal the law, full stop. First Nations are opposed to either idea.
So, Eby tried to compromise with the DRIPA suspension plan. He also pledged to make this plan into a confidence vote, meaning his government would fall if it failed, triggering a snap election.
But there is no rule forcing him to make this a confidence motion.
Confidence motions are automatic for the throne speech and budget votes, but it is the government’s choice on other legislation. It is generally done to signal the high importance of an initiative.
Interim B.C. Conservative Leader Trevor Halford took Eby to task for the miscalculation.
“It was the premier who said just weeks ago that he was prepared to run an election on this,” Halford said. “He’s obviously not because he knows that he will lose.”
As it became clear that Eby does not have full caucus support, talk of an election reached a fever pitch in B.C. political circles. And because the Conservative Party is in the midst of a leadership contest, candidates began to spar over what would happen if an election were called before that race concludes on May 30.
Caroline Elliott, a well-established front-runner, called for the leadership election vote to be moved up in the case of a snap election. Another front-runner, Peter Milobar, disagreed, calling for all five remaining candidates to meet about a contingency plan. He said in an open letter that a rushed vote “risks undermining the integrity of the process.”
Rumblings of dissent
Farnworth indicated Joan Phillip’s lack of support was the reason for delaying the bill, but there are also other Indigenous members of the NDP caucus. And one of them would not answer on Monday when asked directly where she stood on the plan — and whether she had made that clear in a recent caucus meeting.
“I’m not at liberty to talk about what happened in our caucus meetings,” said Tamara Davidson, the Environment and Parks minister and a member of the Haida Nation.
But Davidson did say she supported the new direction.
“We stepped away from making amendments to DRIPA and suggested a different path based on the feedback that we heard from Indigenous communities, and I stand by it,” she said.
Nevertheless, Farnworth insisted that MLAs other than Phillip were prepared to support the DRIPA suspension plan.
“Just because people ask questions does not mean that they don’t support the direction that the government is going, or the direction that the premier has indicated will be taken,” he said.
Eby reiterated that, besides Phillip, his caucus is behind him.
“No other members of caucus have advised me that they will not be voting in support of the legislation,” he said.