AMBITIOUS COMMITMENT WITH VERY FEW TREATIES
NDP plan for UN Declaration on Rights of Indigenous People has huge implications
As throne speech commitments go, not many over the years have been more fraught with consequences for B.C. than the one proclaimed Tuesday by the John Horgan NDP government.
“B.C. will be the first province in Canada to introduce legislation to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People,” it read in part.
The goal is “mandating government to bring provincial laws and policies into harmony with the declaration.”
The UN declaration runs to 46 articles, many with far-reaching implications for a province with 203 recognized First Nations and next to no treaty settlements.
The most frequently quoted article obliges B.C. to obtain “free, prior and informed consent” from Indigenous people before approving “any project affecting their lands or territories and other resources.”
Another article requires the establishment of “a fair, independent, impartial, open and transparent process, giving due recognition to Indigenous peoples’ laws, traditions, customs and land tenure systems, to recognize and adjudicate the rights of Indigenous peoples pertaining to their lands, territories and resources.”
Failing the foregoing, a third article grants Indigenous peoples the right of redress “for the lands, territories and resources which they have traditionally owned or otherwise occupied or used, and which have been confiscated, taken, occupied, used or damaged without their free, prior and informed consent.”
Given the absence of treaties over most of B.C., the lands, territories and resources that have been confiscated, taken, occupied, used or damaged without free, prior and informed consent would constitute pretty much the entire province.
Now here’s what the declaration has to say about remedies: “Compensation shall take the form of lands, territories and resources equal in quality, size and legal status or of monetary compensation or other appropriate redress.” You do the math.
All of that and more (I’ve quoted only a handful of the 46 articles) is to be incorporated into hundreds of provincial statutes and regulations.
Horgan declined to discuss the scope or timetable for the exercise Tuesday, saying the enabling bill was in the hands of legislative drafters.
“Legislative counsel oftentimes goes in directions that weren’t contemplated when the initial request for legislation goes forward,” he told reporters in a postthrone-speech media conference. “So I can’t say definitely whether it will be a rewrite of many pieces of legislation.”
Having said that, he maintained the resulting legislation “will be more than symbolic” and drafted in consultation with First Nations.
The federal government, after endorsing UNDRIP with similar enthusiasm, has since adopted a go-slow policy toward incorporating the declaration into its laws and regulations.
But the Horgan government has no hesitation.
“We’re proceeding regardless,” said the premier. “We have within our jurisdiction a whole host of areas where we can take action. We’re going to do that.”
Although the UNDRIP commitment has been in the works since Horgan first endorsed the UN declaration in September 2016, the throne speech gave a nod to several recent controversies.
After acknowledging that trust in the legislature has been shaken by revelations about overspending, waste and worse, the speech promised: “Your government will work with this assembly to implement reforms that restore trust in this core institution, so that our democracy is stronger going forward.”
Encouraging that the NDPauthored speech commits to working with the assembly as a whole to clean up the mess. Progress is more likely if the parties move on from the current orgy of partisan finger-pointing.
Horgan did comment briefly on the allegations from Speaker Darryl Plecas and his chief of staff Alan Mullen that some elected politicians have broken the law and some folks will be going to jail.
“I have no knowledge of any investigation of any MLAs at the legislature. I have no knowledge of any special prosecutors being imposed,” said the premier, scrupulously distancing himself and his office from Plecas and Mullen. “You will have to ask the Speaker and his assistant where they came up with the allegations that they made.”
On the festering scandal over money laundering, the throne speech pledged: “Your government will identify the structural causes of money laundering to hold accountable those who are responsible. And your government will keep working with its federal partners to fight money laundering in all its forms.” No mention of a public inquiry. Pressed afterward, Horgan said the government awaits reports on money laundering and the housing market from former RCMP executive Peter German and former deputy attorney general Maureen Maloney.
“Before we hear from Mr. German and Ms. Maloney, I think it’s premature to talk about a public inquiry,” he told reporters.
“We already have two capable people that did not have to hire a battery of lawyers to get to the bottom of the challenges in the housing market. When we hear back from them, we will be in a position to decide where to go forward with a more comprehensive inquiry, or to take direct action based on the findings of those two individuals.”
For the rest, the throne speech was the usual collection of waitfor-the-budget hints, particularly on the NDP’s plans for universal child care, poverty reduction and making housing more affordable.
But those commitments, like the vow to incorporate the UN declaration into legislation, are potentially far-reaching as well. Whatever else one might say about the Horgan government, it does not hold itself back from fear of overreach or lack of ambition.
Given the absence of treaties over most of B.C., the lands ... would constitute pretty much the entire province.