By Lauren Whitford
VANCOUVER — As British Columbians vote Saturday, First Nations leaders are warning that the future of the province’s landmark Indigenous rights law is on the ballot, and some who have backed the NDP for generations say they are torn.
The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, known as DRIPA, passed unanimously in 2019 and committed B.C. to aligning its laws with the 46 articles of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Conservatives have promised to repeal it. The NDP platform does not mention it, The Tyee reported.
‘A slogan, not a plan’
The Tŝilhqot’in Nation, whose territory lies within interim Conservative leader Lorne Doerkson’s riding, urged voters to reject the politics of fear and division.
“Repealing DRIPA is a slogan, not a plan,” said Nits’ilʔin Otis Guichon Sr., Tribal Chief of the Tŝilhqot’in National Government. “Amending DRIPA will not make Indigenous people go away or erase our international human rights.”
“Attacking Aboriginal title does not change the reality that our title exists, is protected by the Constitution and must be respected,” Guichon said.
Old loyalties tested
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, reaffirmed his support for Premier David Eby last week, calling him “the best choice as leader of this province,” while endorsing Green Leader Emily Lowan in Saanich North and the Islands as a “strong and courageous ally for Indigenous peoples in B.C.,” the Vancouver Sun reported.
That support came after a spring in which Phillip sharply criticized Eby’s push to suspend parts of DRIPA for up to three years. “There’s absolutely nothing wrong with DRIPA,” he said at the time.
Hugh Braker, a political executive member of the First Nations Summit, said his family’s ties to the NDP go back to its predecessor, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation. “I haven’t been able to decide who to vote for, and it’s really late now,” he told the Sun. “That’s why I’m really torn right now.”
Wet’suwet’en hereditary Chief Na’moks has endorsed Lowan, criticizing what he described as “disappointing leadership and inaction from the last government.”
The First Nations Leadership Council, which brings together the B.C. Assembly of First Nations, the First Nations Summit and the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, has urged First Nations voters to turn out and says it supports DRIPA as written, according to its election package.
What the leaders say
Eby has said a December 2025 B.C. Court of Appeal ruling in the Gitxaała mining-claims case forced the province’s hand. “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 during the televised debate.
Doerkson said the law should go. “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, adding that he is “absolutely committed” to partnerships with First Nations.
Lowan said she follows the advice of First Nations leaders. “They’ve been unequivocal in saying that we must do the work of implementing DRIPA,” she said.
Beyond B.C.
The Gitxaała ruling is now before the Supreme Court of Canada, the Sun reported, meaning the courts may have a final say on how DRIPA applies regardless of who wins Saturday.
The Buffalo Chronicle has requested comment from the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs and the Tŝilhqot’in National Government on what they will ask of the next government in its first 100 days.
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