A political analyst says British Columbia Premier David Eby faces a “moment of real peril” as legislators return to Victoria this week.
Eby has staked his government on plans to suspend sections of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act for up to three years.
The premier has told First Nations leaders in a recent meeting that he plans to introduce legislation to suspend the sections this week.
Stewart Prest from the University of British Columbia says he does not understand why the premier would risk his office on the issue, and that the plans make a promise by the Conservative Party of B.C. to repeal all of DRIPA more appealing.
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First Nation leaders have voiced opposition to Eby’s plans, and one of them — Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs — has said his wife, NDP legislature member Joan Phillip, won’t be voting for the suspension.
The B.C. Greens have also signalled their opposition, but Prest says Eby’s government, with its single-seat majority, could still survive a confidence vote by courting the six Independents or finding other arrangements to avoid an election.
The premier has said government faces “very serious litigation risk” from a December court decision known as the Gitxaala ruling.
It says DRIPA should be “properly interpreted” to immediately incorporate the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples into B.C. laws.
Eby said in a letter obtained by The Canadian Press that the ruling means every provincial law can be challenged for being inconsistent with the UN declaration.
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