Don't vote for law change, First Nations tell MLAs

A collective of major First Nations groups in British Columbia has issued an open letter to all members of the province's legislature, asking them to reject a plan by Premier David Eby's government to suspend parts of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act.

The letter by the First Nations Leadership Council says Eby has told them he intended to introduce legislation to suspend "critical provisions" of the act, despite overwhelming opposition from First Nations. 

The government said last week it would not hold a confidence vote on the legislation — diverting a possible election call -- after Indigenous member Joan Phillip told her own government she would not vote for the changes. 

The letter says Eby is trying to muster support from other MLAs, needlessly forcing a vote which will have "immediate and lasting consequences for reconciliation and the legal, political and economic stability of this province."

Independent First Nations sources tell The Canadian Press the changes will be introduced in the legislature on Monday. 

Eby has said a recent court decision on B.C.'s mineral claims regime that cited DRIPA puts the province at serious litigation risk.

His government, with just a single-seat majority, has struggled to find a course that satisfies First Nations leaders, who rejected an initial plan to amend DRIPA, then dismissed the idea to suspend the law to give the Supreme Court of Canada time to rule on an appeal. 

The two sources say the premier's office has relayed to them that the suspension bill will also grant cabinet the ability to extend the suspension past its one-year limit. 

The B.C. Court of Appeal ruled late last year that the mineral rules in the province are "inconsistent" with the DRIPA legislation, which is based on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The First Nations Leadership Council says in its letter that Eby's framing of the court ruling is "misleading." 

"We are dismayed at the degree to which the court cases and DRIPA are being misrepresented, mischaracterized and conflated as rhetoric and fearmongering."

The risk before legislators isn't created by DRIPA, it's created by the decision to undermine the act, the letter says. 

It's unclear if the government has the number of votes it needs to pass the changes in the legislature with its slim majority. 

The Eby government has 47 seats compared with a total of 46 seats for the Opposition B.C. Conservatives, B.C. Greens and Independents. 

First Nations leaders have voiced strong opposition to any changes to the law, and have called on the government to withdraw its appeal of the mineral rights court decision from the Supreme Court of Canada. 

The council's letter says it also wants to address Eby's statement that the leadership council is a "wall of opposition" and "failing to compromise," saying they have consistently offered to work with the province to improve the implementation of DRIPA. 

"First Nations should not be asked by the Crown to compromise their human rights. No other segment of society is asked to put their rights on hold while the government seeks to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada to undermine those very rights."

The letter says that if members of the legislature choose to support efforts to weaken the act, "you aren't avoiding legal risk — you are increasing it," and it will only invite a legal challenge from First Nations. 

"This will result in increased legal uncertainty, significant financial burden to the province, and further delay to the very economic and regulatory certainty that Premier Eby claims to be protecting," the letter says. 

DRIPA was unanimously passed in the provincial legislature in November 2019 and requires the B.C. government ensure the laws of the province are consistent with the UN declaration. 

But Eby has said the court's decision creates a huge legal uncertainty by forcing the government to implement the laws into its legislation all at once, which the premier has compared to eating "the whole elephant." 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 19, 2026.

By Alessia Passafiume and Wolfgang Depner | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.