Tag Archives: DRIPA

Indigenous Nations

‘There needs to be some sense of balance’: Cattlemen’s Association president talks DRIPA challenge

Energeticcity.ca, Local Journalism Initiative

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — The president of the B.C. Cattlemen’s Association (BCCA) spoke to Energeticcity.ca about potential roles the organization would seek regarding a challenge to the province’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (DRIPA).

A press release issued on Wednesday, May 6th, says the BCCA will seek intervenor status – a party acting on behalf of individuals or an organization – in the case surrounding the Pender Harbour and Area Residents Association.

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Indigenous Nations

DRIPA: Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council Says Its Time to Set the Record Straight!

Press release from the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council

April 14, 2026– Hupacasath and Tseshaht Territories, Port Alberni, BC
The Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council (NTC) is relieved to hear that amendments to DRIPA are paused while the Premier looks for support with chiefs and opposition MLA’s. We know it is not because he is listening to the First Nations who have spoken out against amending DRIPA but rather his need to find enough MLAs to support his amendments. The premier needs to drop this initiative.

NTC says to the Premier, now it is time to work with First Nations and find solutions to what he feels is a huge problem. We would like good faith negotiations in person and no negotiating through the media. Also no short meetings and turn around times to respond to BC’s position. We want co-developed solutions. NTC has always been willing to look at options other than amending DRIPA.

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Indigenous Nations, Politics

Fact-Checking MP Aaron Gunn: Are Private Property Rights Actually at Risk?

In the most recent round of a social media war of his own making, MP Aaron Gunn makes the misleading claim that the government is sending homeowners letters that their property may now belong to First Nations. 

His statement is based on a notification that the city of Richmond sent out to property owners within the boundaries of the old Cowichan summer village of TI’uqtinus, in October 2025. 

To put this in context: the land should have been made into a reserve. Instead senior colonial officials ignored their government’s instructions to protect the settlement and purchased it themselves in a series of transactions between 1871 and 1914. After a lengthy lawsuit, the Supreme Court of British Columbia restored title to the 800 of the village’s original 1,846 acres ‘over which they have proven sufficient and exclusive occupation.’ 

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Indigenous Nations, Politics

Reconciliation: Two Regional Directors Speak Out on DRIPA and the Path of Reconciliation

With all the current hype about the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA), Cortes Currents reached out to two rural politicians to ask how they see this legislation working at the local level. Mark Vonesch is the Regional Director for Area B (Cortes Island) and Robyn Mawhinney is the Regional Director for Area C, which includes Quadra and most of the other Discovery Islands. They both sit on the board of the Strathcona Regional District (SRD). 

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Indigenous Nations, Politics

The Battle Over DRIPA & Land Claims

(The first in a series of articles about Indigenous consent, property rights and the future of DRIPA)

British Columbia is currently navigating a widening divide. On one side, the courts are handing down historic decisions affirming Indigenous rights. On the other, a growing wave of anxiety over private property and economic certainty. Today, we look at the fallout from the Gitxaala and Cowichan Tribes decisions—and the political battleground forming around the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA). 

These are actually three separate topics: two court cases regarding the duty to consult before registering mining claims (Gitxaala versus British Columbia and the 2025 appeal); a court case regarding the Aboriginal title to an ancient village site that was sold out from beneath the Cowichan Tribes (Cowichan Tribes v. Canada); and DRIPA, the provincial legislative framework that formally adopts and implements the the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP)

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