As a follow-up to the article in addition 9 on the amendments to the land act, the government has now paused or decided to not follow through, with these amendments that would put DRIPA into a more legal position. From the BC government’s website: “The BC Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) Action Plan was released on March 30, 2022, and provincially guides the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.”
The B.C. government was quietly slipping the amendments that gave ‘Indigenous’ equal say over crown land usage (which covers 95% of all BC land). But when the story gained mainstream momentum and exposure, and the spotlight shone hotly on the BC NDP, it seemed that they had to ‘reconsider’ their rush. As expected, representatives who shared their worries over these amendments, were called racist, and those who sought legal clarification that the ‘Indigenous’ would have veto power over land use were called ‘spreaders of misinformation”. Expect this to only be the beginning of this story as the Provincial government still has this statement on the website: “The DRIPA Action Plan form the long-term vision to achieve the objectives of the UN Declaration over time.”
The original Land Amendment Act article can be viewed below.
