For the past two years B.C. Conservative MLAs have been chanting a mantra: “Repeal DRIPA!”
It has come to stand for a broad frustration that despite promises otherwise, Crown-Indigenous relations languish, with many of the foundational questions about Aboriginal rights and title unresolved.
The Conservatives have convinced themselves, their members and their social media mob that the best way to solve these foundational questions in B.C. is to repeal the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, which was passed unanimously, including with a vote I proudly cast as an MLA, in November 2019. Their simple message is like a sleight of hand. One smooth move and poof! All our problems go away.
Premier-designate Lorne Doerkson’s message on DRIPA before the election was clear. Now, however, it’s increasingly mixed.
On one hand, speaking of DRIPA he said: “The reality is it hasn’t solved anything. We are in court all over British Columbia with respect to docks at Pender Harbour, mining opportunities in the province. It hasn’t solved anything. And what we need to do is work together for the betterment of all people in British Columbia.”
He’s repeated a similar message: “If DRIPA had the opportunity to solve the problems in this province we wouldn’t be in court, and legislation that forces two parties together does not seem very beneficial to anybody, in my mind.”
But, on the other hand, Doerkson said: “I am committed with working on a great path forward of respect, partnership, friendship and conversation.” And then: “I am absolutely committed to this, and I mean it when I say that I will take a meeting with First Nations any day so that we can grow a partnership and a friendship together.”
While in the official Opposition benches, the Conservatives split their time between challenging the BC NDP government and chasing the unhinged and divisive politics of OneBC’s Dallas Brodie and Tara Armstrong, whose perspective echoed that of early B.C. lieutenant-governor Joseph Trutch, who entrenched Indigenous land dispossession. Now that the Conservatives are government, Crown-Indigenous relations policy is their responsibility.
Before Doerkson proposes any bill related to repealing DRIPA, he should meet with First Nations leaders.
Former B.C. Conservative leader John Rustad succinctly described the party’s position as grounded in a policy of extinguishment when he said that “Indigenous rights and private property cannot coexist.”
However, the easy answers Doerkson and his colleagues have been promising to provide certainty, to British Columbians and investors, are far more complex than they have been letting on.
As the director of intergovernmental relations and lead negotiator for the Tsartlip First Nation, I have had a seat at the table for conversations where the Crown takes its responsibilities vis-a-vis Crown-Indigenous relations seriously. And I have also seen what happens when it does not: we return to a highly charged, litigious environment where progress moves slowly, if at all.
‘It’s a very volatile situation brewing’
Repealing DRIPA is a straightforward legislative process, and from a political perspective, Doerkson’s party won a supermajority. However, managing the consequences is far trickier than they have told the public.
Even the way Doerkson describes his expectations of DRIPA is curious. The act was never meant to solve anything on its own. DRIPA is the framework that has always depended on the Crown doing challenging work. It creates administrative tools such as Section 7 agreements, an action plan and aligning laws. If Doerkson thinks that little got solved, it is a failure of implementation, not of DRIPA.
Paradoxically, repealing DRIPA would create more of the uncertainty Doerkson says he is ending. Section 35 of the Canadian Constitution, Aboriginal title case law and the federal United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act are still in place.
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, said: “It’s a very volatile situation brewing in British Columbia, it could very well move to battleground B.C.”
This is not a threat. It is the reality of decades of Crown tight-fistedness and heel dragging. Removing the legislated framework means the disputes are back in the courts and on the frontlines, which is the opposite of what industry says it wants.
Doerkson is committing to “respect, partnership, friendship and conversation.” However, there is a contradiction in the fact he is objecting to the exact mechanism, a duty to come together, while promising to come together voluntarily.
Repealing the law that “forces two parties together” and requires creating alignment “in consultation and co-operation with the Indigenous peoples in British Columbia” ignores the fact that the Crown-Indigenous relationship is a legal obligation, not goodwill.
It is in Doerkson’s nuanced position where the opportunity lies. “The betterment of all people in British Columbia” happens only with productive Crown-Indigenous relations. In the coming weeks, premier-designate Doerkson will make key decisions that will lay the foundation for how he will govern for the next four years.
One of those decisions will be whether Doerkson meets with Indigenous leaders to “grow a partnership and a friendship together” before he moves to repeal DRIPA.
Doerkson should do what few expect. He should:
- set a new date for the annual B.C. Cabinet and First Nations Leaders’ Gathering;
- meet First Nations leaders before tabling the DRIPA repeal bill; and
- put DRIPA itself on the agenda.
Doerkson can step into the challenging space that his party’s promise to repeal DRIPA has made even more contentious. He can prove through action that he is serious about building relations through friendship and conversation. Doerkson has the resources, and if he calls the meeting, there is likely to be a huge response. ![[Tyee]](https://thetyee.ca/design-article.thetyee.ca/ui/img/yellowblob.png){kind=small}
