Why the B.C. Conservatives want to repeal the DRIPA

[Dr Strangelove]

[Dr Strangelove]

https://thenarwhal.ca/undrip-eby-shifting-politics/

Eby’s plan to amend B.C.’s Indigenous Rights law after a precedent-setting court ruling is seen by many as a rollback of reconciliation, raising tensions with First Nations and potentially destabilizing both legal and economic frameworks.

[Dr Strangelove]

[Dr Strangelove]

[Dr Strangelove]

Yes I voted for DRIPA in 2019. I’ve never hidden from that, and I won’t pretend otherwise now

But here are the facts people need to understand.
In 2019, I was not the leader of the B.C. Liberals. I did not write the party platform. I did not draft the legislation. I voted with my caucus, as MLAs do and the NDP had a majority government. Bill 41 was going to pass whether I voted yes or no

And when DRIPA was debated at second reading on October 30, 2019, I didn’t treat it like a photo-op. I raised real, practical concerns about overlapping claims and land questions, how an “UNDRIP lens” would handle those conflicts, how it could affect court cases, and the fact that the government wasn’t bringing the general public along while people were already contacting my office with fears about free, prior and informed consent

At the same time, the NDP tried to reassure British Columbians. In that very debate, they said DRIPA “does not, in and of itself, give UNDRIP legal force and effect.” They said it was “enabling,” that we “won’t see the world change overnight,” that it was “not a switch that will change every statute and process the day after” it was proclaimed and that it was “not a veto.”
More importantly, DRIPA as passed in 2019 is not where this crisis truly accelerated

The real turning point came in 2021, when David Eby was Attorney General. That’s when his government amended the Interpretation Act so that every Act and regulation must be construed consistently with Section 35 and UNDRIP. That change fundamentally altered how courts read all provincial law including property law. That wasn’t symbolic. That was structural. And it happened on Eby’s watch

By the time I became leader of the B.C. Conservatives, I had seen enough to know we were headed for trouble. That’s why in 2024 I campaigned openly on this and raised these concerns publicly and I was told I was fearmongering, talked down to, and dismissed.
Now it’s 2025, and we’ve seen the result in the Cowichan ruling, fee-simple land titles ruled to “coexist” with Aboriginal title, banks pulling financing, investors walking away, seniors terrified they can’t refinance their homes

So yes, I’m human. I’m allowed to learn. I’m allowed to reassess when facts change. Leadership means being willing to say: we got this wrong and fix it.
And I’ve been clear about what fixing it actually requires

Repealing DRIPA alone is not enough. Tweaking regulations is not enough. Loan guarantees are not enough. We need to reopen the Constitution and not just to enshrine property rights on equal footing with Section 35, but to also bring clarity to Section 35 itself

We need an objective framework for how overlapping and separate rights are reconciled in practice, and what “completion” actually looks like. When is reconciliation completed? When are all Canadians equal under one clear, stable set of rules?

These are my new priorities because the promise of Canada is equal rights under one flag and one law. Families who did everything right should never have to wonder if their title still means anything

[Dr Strangelove]

Aboriginal title cannot be used to restrict Canadian airspace, Ottawa says

The federal government says Aboriginal title can't be used to restrict flights in Canadian airspace.

This after a BC First Nations group tried to use Aboriginal title to claim airspace above Crown land — expelling a helicopter company & BC government forestry officials who they allegedly accosted.

These are yet more consequences of the NDP's DRIPA that Eby must repeal along with Sec 8.1 of the Interpretation Act.

[Dr Strangelove]

[Dr Strangelove]