B.C. to suspend Indigenous law: sources

First Nations sources say British Columbia Premier David Eby’s government will introduce legislation to suspend parts of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act on Monday.

Independent First Nations sources tell The Canadian Press that the bill that has been vehemently opposed by many Indigenous leaders will seek to suspend the core elements of DRIPA for one year.

Eby has said a recent court decision on B.C.’s mineral claims regime that cited DRIPA puts the province at serious litigation risk.

His government, with just a single-seat majority, has struggled to find a course that satisfies First Nations leaders, who rejected an initial plan to amend DRIPA, then dismissed the idea to suspend the law to give the Supreme Court of Canada time to rule on an appeal. 

Eby initially said a vote on the suspension would be a confidence vote, but opposition from Indigenous government MLA Joan Phillip saw that idea scrapped and the legislation postponed.

Now two sources say the premier’s office has relayed to them that the suspension bill will be tabled on Monday and it will grant cabinet the ability to extend the suspension past the one-year limit. 

The B.C. Court of Appeal ruled late last year that the mineral rules in the province are “inconsistent” with the DRIPA legislation, which is based on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The First Nations Leadership Council, a collective of major First Nations groups in the province, has called an emergency meeting for its executives on Sunday to discuss the government’s plan. 

It’s unclear if the government has the number of votes it needs to pass the changes in the legislature with its slim majority. 

The Eby government has 47 seats compared with a total of 46 seats for the Opposition B.C. Conservatives, B.C. Greens and Independents. 

First Nations leaders have voiced strong opposition to any changes to the law, and have called on the government to withdraw its appeal of the mineral rights court decision from the Supreme Court of Canada. 

A statement from the First Nations Summit issued April 14 says its members “unequivocally oppose amendments to the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act,”

“The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada called upon federal, provincial, territorial, and municipal governments and institutions to fully adopt and implement the UN Declaration as the framework for reconciliation,” the statement says. 

DRIPA was unanimously passed in the provincial legislature in November 2019 and requires that the B.C. government ensure the laws of the province are consistent with the UN declaration. 

But Eby has said the court’s decision creates a huge legal uncertainty by forcing the government to implement the laws into its legislation all at once, which the premier has compared to eating “the whole elephant.” 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 19, 2026.

By Alessia Passafiume and Wolfgang Depner | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.