ICBA say Eby Must Recall the Legislature and Repeal DRIPA

The Independent Contractors and Businesses Association (ICBA), Canada’s largest construction association, is calling on Premier David Eby to immediately recall the BC Legislature, repeal the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA), and repeal section 8.1 of the Interpretation Act, after the B.C. Court of Appeal ruled that DRIPA and United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) are now legally enforceable in provincial law.

In a split decision released yesterday in Gitxaala v. British Columbia (Chief Gold Commissioner), the Court held that DRIPA incorporates UNDRIP into BC law with immediate effect and that B.C. statutes and regulations may now be measured against UNDRIP standards by the courts.

“British Columbians were told by David Eby and the NDP that DRIPA was about symbolism, reconciliation, and ‘frameworks’ – but the Court of Appeal makes it clear DRIPA is now hard law with sweeping consequences for every statute, regulation, permit and project in this province,” said Chris Gardner, ICBA President. “You cannot bolt a vague UN declaration onto all laws in B.C. and then be surprised when judges start using it to rewrite provincial laws from the bench.”

“For builders, investors, entrepreneurs and small businesses, this decision is a five-alarm fire. It torches certainty, permitting, project approvals, and investment in every part of B.C.’s economy. Every major project – housing, roads, bridges, hospitals, energy, mining, forestry, ports, and industrial sites – is now exposed to a new, open-ended layer of legal risk,” Gardner added. “That is the opposite of what B.C. needs in the middle of an affordability crisis, an economy on the brink of a recession, and declining standards of living.”

The Court of Appeal majority describes DRIPA as an “interpretive lens” and sets UNDRIP, a United Nations resolution that is not binding in international law, as a minimum standard against which B.C. laws must be measured. Combined with section 8.1 of the Interpretation Act – which requires every Act and regulation to be construed in a manner consistent with UNDRIP – the ruling effectively hard-wires UNDRIP into every provincial law. Said Gardner: “No other country has subordinated their entire legal system to otherwise non-legally binding international dictates from the United Nations – it’s reckless and irresponsible.”

“The dissenting judge in this case said this is not the proper role of the courts in our democracy, and we agree,” said Gardner. “Respecting rights matters. Building shared prosperity matters. But those goals must be pursued through clear dialogue and open and transparent discussion and decision-making, and not by handing judges a blank cheque to import an international declaration article by article into BC law.”

Gardner said the decision creates significant uncertainty across B.C. “People need to understand who owns the land and who has the right to make decisions on the use of the land. Follow the law on the books today only to have a court decide years from now that the rules mean something different because of UNDRIP? That’s not reconciliation – that’s regulatory roulette and a recipe for economic chaos. We are making British Columbia un-investable.”

ICBA is calling on Eby and the NDP Government to take four steps immediately:

1. Recall the Legislature and repeal DRIPA: Eby must recall the Legislature immediately and repeal DRIPA.
   
   
2. Repeal section 8.1 of the Interpretation Act: Section 8.1(3) requires that “every Act and regulation must be construed as being consistent with the Declaration.” This provision fuels uncertainty by allowing courts to read UNDRIP into every statute and regulation. It should be repealed so that B.C. laws are interpreted based on the text passed by elected MLAs, not on an open-ended international set of principles established by the United Nations and imposed by the courts.
   
   
3. Reinvigorate the treaty negotiation process: The way to certainty and finality is by negotiating modern treaties with First Nations.
   
   
4. Protect private property rights: Fee simple private property rights must be preserved and protected. No homeowner, farmer, rancher, or business owner should have any doubt about their right to the title to land they own.

“Layering DRIPA, UNDRIP and section 8.1 over top of the Canadian constitution has created an unstable legal, investment and business climate that will slow down or stop everything we need to build – homes, hospitals, schools, roads, bridges, ports, mines, and other infrastructure,” said Gardner. “The dangerous and reckless approach to reconciliation that the NDP has devised must be stopped. The Legislature must be recalled, DRIPA must be repealed, and section 8.1 must be removed from the Interpretation Act. Instead, a practical constitutional approach that respects the rights of all British Columbians must be restarted.”