Put yourself in the position of a major global corporation considering/looking for resource/industrial investment/development opportunities.
How many of your millions (or billions) would you be willing to pump into B.C. when the Premier says he will only temporarily suspend parts of a piece of legislation that threatens your entire investment and operation in the province?
I’d say “Not a penny!”
Especially if there are plenty of other countries offering a more stable/secure investment climate!
Premier David Eby needs to develop a backbone and stand up CLEARLY to both the militant First Nations leaders who are twisting him around their fingers and the extremists within his own caucus who would willingly surrender control/ownership of B.C. Crown lands to First Nations.
Of course, the B.C. government should not be surprised to see their First Nations’ counterparts fight like hell to keep DRIPA intact.
Who could blame them!
DRIPA … unamended or even if only temporarily suspended … could be worth BILLIONS to the First Nations … money that would be extorted out of the pockets and bank accounts of other British Columbians.
And no one should believe for a second that private property won’t also eventually be subject to Court challenges by First Nations … and, under some sympathetic activist judges’ interpretation of DRIPA … be placed in jeopardy as well.
DRIPA must go … period!!!
The economic future of generations of British Columbians depends on it.
Eby and the NDP have to stop bowing and scraping to militant First Nations trying to run … and ruin … the province!
Temporary suspension of DRIPA is simply not good enough.
And if Eby lacks the spine to settle the DRIPA uncertainties once and for all by getting rid of this pie-in-the-sky United Nations policy … he should let the voters decide!
Submit DRIPA to a province-wide referendum … or call a provincial election and seek a mandate to suspend it … even for one day!
Or are Eby and the NDP too afraid of the people of the province?
Pass it on ….
Harv Oberfeld
🇨🇦🇨🇦Buy Canadian!! Your country’s businesses and workers need your loyalty now … more than ever! 🇨🇦🇨🇦
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There is concept called Overton’s Window developed by Joseph P. Overton. He proposed that the political viability of an idea depends mainly on whether it falls within an acceptability range, rather than on the individual preferences of politicians. When DRIPA was passed in BC I believe there was an overriding desire on the part of the citizens of BC and Canada to resolve the First Nation concerns around the quality of life on reserves and in urban centres. Canadians wanted issues of housing, drinkable water, poor health outcomes, and overall poverty addressed. Unfortunately the political class offered up UNDRIP and DRIPA, and despite the warning of legal scholars not leave it to the courts to settle the meaning of clauses they did. And the courts fell back on the interpretations based on case law, leaving us in the current situation.
Maybe a lesson can learned from Norway which established a Sami Parliament. Perhaps too complex for a Province of BC with over 200 First Nations who don’t often agree with each other. https://sametinget.no/about-the-sami-parliament/
One observation is that while there is evidence that the material wellbeing of First Nations has improved over the last 20 years, but we still have a long way to go. And this I think is still the primary concern motivating Canadians.
(Response: I have a novel idea: if First Nations want the same benefits and comforts many of the rest of us enjoy, maybe those FN who earn enough should pay taxes like the rest of us? Of course, if there are some, as in every community, who don’t earn enough to pay for all the services they need/deserve …we have a duty to take care of our fellow citizens … they should not threaten, block otherwise approved resource/development projects that would fund those benefits. Ho)
CBC’s headline on this issue says “The consensus was the bill had no powers to change law, the courts disagreed”.
I wonder when legislative ascent stopped being law? Is CBC that ignorant, have our educators rewritten our governance guidelines? Does CBC think we are as stupid as Horgan, Eby and Meggs obviously do?
As stated earlier in some other’s comments, what place does the money sucking, outdated, neutered, UN have in our legal system in Canada?
Finally, how many jurisdictions of UN member nations have also adopted UNDRIPA? This answer should properly categorize the hypocrisy in plain view from todays UN!
As happens far too often with the BC NDP, the laws of unintended consequences have been ignored by the smarmy, condescending, dolts in the executive suite, a trend that troubles me immensely!
(Response: Surprise! Surprise! With David Eby’s cowering in the corner, afraid to act, First Nations have stepped up their claims for lands … filing new and amended (expanded?) Court cases. Does the NDP not care at all about anyone anymore other than indigenous British Columbians??? (Except maybe the druggies, crazies, homeless). Ho)
(Response: I can’t help but wonder how John Horgan would have handled this situation. First, although sympathetic to First Nations, I doubt Horgan would have been stupid enough to adopt DRIPA…HO)
The legislation was passed unanimously in 2019 when Horgan was Premier.
Generally I try to avoid being baited into a pointless debate but I can’t help but respond to Marge who wants to hear specifically from me and EAF so she can laugh at our drivel. The debate is pointless when one side is so entrenched that they won’t take another side seriously. That is especially true when the debate narrows the topic and forgets the nuances that got us here in the first place.
But here goes.
DRIPA in and of itself is not the problem. There are plenty of things that can and should be done to align BC laws to include indigenous rights and traditions. Unfortunately, the legislation was poorly written and Eby as Attorney General at the time bears responsibly for that although the bill was actually introduced by the Minister of Indigenous Affairs. There were warnings at the time over things like was consent a veto. but the Legislature voted unanimously so here we are.
Now, where do we go from here? That’s the problem facing Eby and he is doing a pretty bad job of it. Flopping (forget the flipping; he is mostly flopping) is not a good look. Pausing for the summer better result in something concrete or I might have to support the idea of a very early election and you know how much I hate early elections.
But let’s be very clear. Getting rid of DRIPA will not solve some of the uncertainties. People here are outraged that FNs are threatening court cases. Don’t forget that we had plenty of court cases before DRIPA and FNs generally won those. The whole point of DRIPA and consultation etc is to get clarity so court cases don’t continue to hamper resource development.
If we have an election and the Conservatives win and repeal DRIPA completely, I don’t see us being that much further ahead.
We can blame every government going back to James Douglas. Indigenous rights are a thing and can’t be ignored. And to be clear, that does not mean governments have to give away the house (figuratively or literally).
(Response: Thanks. I stand corrected re-Hogan. Clearly, if DRIPA was adopted into law unanimously, several politicos ( within both the government and the Opposition and also the bureaucracy) were remiss in reading, interpreting and sounding the alarm about the possible implications. As for Eby and any future decisions he may make, there is still a chance he will realize the terrible potential implications of leaving DRIPA intact and in force and develop the backbone to stand up to the militant First Nations activists.
Eby and the NDP government seem to have forgotten they were elected by people of the province from a wide variety of backgrounds… and not just to cater, pander … and now take orders or especially cave in to threats from First Nations. Ho)
Not Sure: “The debate is pointless when one side is so entrenched that they won’t take another side seriously.”
Precisely why I, and I suspect many others, have ceased participating.
I read the headline, perhaps delve into HOs main piece, then quickly scan for one or two regular reasoned and sensible contributors.
It’s not that long ago, when 40 or more posts were registered each week, and now, even with some individuals logging several replies, it is seldom that more than a dozen are produced.
I always know what the small few who keep this blog going will be saying, because it is the same copy and paste rhetoric with a few words changed here and there to keep on topic.
It is all very predictable but thank you Not Sure for your solid research and composition in the face of such
muckraking.
(Response: Interesting that you call anyone (other than yourself and Not Sure) expressing their opinion and disagreeing with NDP government policy “muckraking”. That’s exactly why democracy needs and is enriched by social media blogs: the public get to call out incompetent corrupted governments and political polices that the mainstream media too often do not reflect. And even propose solutions!!! (Read my NEXT blog!:) )As for those who “keep the blog going” …there’s only one person who does that: moi …because I enjoy speaking MY piece (it’s called DEMOCRACY), and I know the blog is still widely read by those in the media and government! How? Because I still know/hear from people in those fields and, in fact, I still get Press Releases and invites to some Press Conferences, despite being “retired”. And, most importantly, I enjoy doing it …and although most readers don’t like to comment publicly, I am happy to provide a forum for those who do. Ho)
Hi Harvey, very lively discussion you have provoked!
One thing, that I have found puzzling, is why the Cabinet and the whole caucus haven’t called for the Premier to step down. He is drowning man, going down for the third time and flailing about as if his life depended on it. Which, rhetorically, it does.
With Eby as its head, the NDP, have zero chance to get re-elected. In fact they will be lucky to survive as a party. He has completely botched, almost everything he has brought forward, especially in regards to dealing with he FN, and how he’s dealing with them, has affected everyone in B.C. The Fee-Simple boondoggle alone, should do him in.
(Response: This is a discussion that MUST take place among all British Columbians: that’s why I hope everyone who reads this blog passes it on to all their friends and relatives and urges them to get involved too, speak out and STOP Eby’s surrendering of BC’s lands and economic future! He couldn’t even muster from his own NDP MLAs a “temporary suspension” of the most dangerous parts of DRIPA while the matter is considered further??? Good grief!! What a “leader”! Watch now as militant First Nations activists rush more cases/claims through the Courts to get decisions under DRIPA that burn BC’s chances of ever turning back the clock while Eby fiddles.Ho)
Once again some very interesting comments on this topic.
I keep racking my brain why Eby/NDP continues on this path of self destruction. The cynic in me wonders what can be possibly gained? Does this premiere believe that he is so enlightened that history will prove him correct and that everyone else was wrong? Such hubris can soon become a fatal flaw.
I cannot believe that anyone would follow a directive that originated from the United Nations. This organisation has lost any shred of usefulness in this modern time. It is filled with “fat bureaucrats” living in New York city whose only purpose in life is to lead a charmed lifestyle, complete with full diplomatic immunity. Does anyone really listen to these people?
Good grief.
(Response: The NDP “do-gooders” were clearly snookered by activist First Nations leaders to adopt into law the UN’s DRIPA declaration, without realizing the full implications. And if that wasn’t bad enough, Eby and the NDP caucus have been snookered once again into not even suspending temporarily the most dangerous parts of the law, pending further consideration, discussion. How weak and ineffective can a government be! And now, make no mistake: ALL BC lands could be in jeopardy… at the hands of some wacko activist judge or judges, while these same FN activists deliberately tie up the BC government in “consultations”. Ho)
EBY “TACO’ed”.
I wasn’t going add anymore to this discussion but after having coffee with some acquaintances at the local coffee bean, I think I will give voice to those who are (in their 70’s, like me) extremely worried.
It seems the first Nations chiefs said they would blockade roads and railways if Eby touched DRIPA (I have now read that there are over 30 such cases before the court).
Eby and the NDP collectively “wet their collected pants” and they surrendered to this threat and will do nothing.
I would think, Canada being in a national emergence, if the First nations started blockades, the prime Minister would have no hesitation to send in the military.
Eby has not read the tea leafs properly and has done nothing to rein in the current squandering of the public’s money. Eby has not done anything to control the out of control Metro Vancouver, has done nothing but throw money at TransLink and so on.
When leadership from Victoria was so sorely needed, we got cowardice.
Eby is now taxing the elderly out of their homes with compounding interest on deferred taxes, taxes so large caused by run-a-way housing costs and property assessed at the maximum rate of use, which is adding to the dystopia that has become BC.
What’s worse, it leading to a complete NDP wipe-out at the next election. Look what happened the last time the NDP self immolated and Campbell got elected and sold off BC assets at a fire-sale price to friends and insiders!
The Conservatives, ossified in 19th centruy beliefs will be worse than Campbell if they have full run at government. it will be Trump, BC style.
So Eby chickened out at a mere threat and than makes me do more than go hmmm.
My grandfathers did not chicken out at Vimy or Passchendale, my father did not chicken out sailing the North Atlantic in the winter of 44/45 in what de said was a tin can waiting to sink, yet Eby and the NDP chickened out on a mere threat.
Eby is a coward, the NDP are cowards and they showed the BC electorate that they are cowards (I might add elder abusers). Where we needed leadership, all we got was TACO.
Eby and the NDP are done, they know it and will stay in government collecting their various stipend to the bitter end, then collect their generous pensions when tossed out.
This the government we have and I cannot print what was said yesterday and it wasn’t profanity.
“You are a coward when you even seem to have backed down from a thing you openly set out to do.”
Mark Twain
(Response: I can’t help but wonder how John Horgan would have handled this situation. First, although sympathetic to First Nations, I doubt Horgan would have been stupid enough to adopt DRIPA … especially after studying and learning the possible implications of doing so. And Horgan had a backbone: he would never have allowed any militant activists to… FN or otherwise … push him around the way Eby has caved. Scary to think what Eby’s lasting legacy as Premier will be!!! Ho)
Think another big threat from chiefs was to shut down FIFA and world cup with all the world watching.
Maybe all the seniors and anyone who wants their property rights kept intact should get together and shut down FIFA as step one of a counter set of actions to stop the insanity of letting all this continue.
(Response: So threats and blackmail is all it takes to get Eby and the NDP to cave? If so, that is a terrible precedent, which will be repeated over and over, surrendering power to the mob while this government is in office. Ho)
“Or are Eby and the NDP too afraid of the people of the province? ”
They must be by now, not only the with the contents of the legislation but also the way that Eby has handled the issue, incompetent doesn’t begin to describe it. Best example for me of the incompetence; he called for a confidence vote before counting the votes he had, and then sending out Farnsworth for clean up on aisle 1 – 2 and 3 after finding out he didn’t have the votes to say and I’m paraphrasing ” well err it’s not a confidence vote, in fact we aren’t going to have a vote ” gives us the answer to your question Harvey.
Now it’s been punted to the fall while Eby does the rounds with yet another set of negotiations with the F.N.s who know he has painted himself into a corner and is desperate to find a way out of the mess he created. Can’t imagine that fills any of us with confidence.
The conservatives just have to elect an agreeable leader and stay consistent on their message of dripa repeal as the NDP keep on digging deeper the hole they are in, not just on dripa but the handling of the economy, debt levels, credit rating downgrades etc. etc.
Eby gleefully brings up the fact that there is no proponent for a pipeline to the coast, well duh !. can’t think why that is the case.
I usually vote NDP provincially but now I’m in no mans land, not sure about the conservatives but would hold my nose and vote for them if Eby is still around in any capacity at the next election, and NDP MLAS should be looking at contingency plans for their own survival long before the next election if Eby is still in front of a microphone.
(Response: The Conservatives have to keep it real: as you suggest, pick a leader who is center of the road, not given to extreme right wing ideology or social positions/statements the majority of British Columbians would find repugnant… and then vow to take on the First Nations extremists who now clearly have Eby/NDP wrapped around their fingers.
Let Eby/NDP take the militant first nations vote, while the Conservatives capture the moderate First Nations’ support, along with the entire European ethnicity, Asian origin and immigration-derived population of BC votes.
The only problem is, at present, an election is still years away… And I shudder to think of the damage Eby and the NDP will do to BCC economy in the meantime. The only problem is, at present, an election is still years away… And I shutter to think of the damage Eby and the NDP and his militant First Nations bosses will do to BC economy in the meantime.Ho)
We are really in uncharted waters. By the looks of it Canada, BC and Northwest Territories very naively went into this expecting the best from everyone. It has gotten so bad for Bolivia that they are now called a plurination, defined as the coexistence of two or more sealed or preserved national groups within a national border.
Add to the problem the Framework Agreement on First Nation Land Management Act that allows that allows First Nations to opt out of 44 land-related sections of the Indian Act. It enables First Nations to govern their own lands, environment, and natural resources through community-developed Land Codes. Plus Canada’s adoption the UN’s 30 by 30 initiative we have a lot legal/political land mines ahead.
A quick search found the following information:
* 150 countries support UNDRIP, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, & US voted against.
* Only a small handful have actually implemented it in law in a comprehensive way
* Only Canada, BC, and Northwest Territories have fully passed UNDRIP legislation
* Bolivia, Ecuador, Norway and Kenya embed similar rights in constitutions or laws
*Mexico, Colombia, Bolivia are using the courts.
* Norway, Sweden, and Finland have not fully implemented – level of duty to consult varies among the Nordic countries
* 11 nations abstained – Russian and Ukraine in the group (Ukraine approved in 2021)
* China supported UNDRIP but states that there are no “indigenous peoples” within its borders.
(Response: Thank you for this: adds a lot of valuable information to the discussion. It is not a case of British Colombians, not acknowledging or wanting to resolve land claims and social issues with our First Nations residents. But why, why, why invoke pie-in-the-sky resolutions passed by the hypocrites at the increasingly disgraced United Nations??? Haven’t Eby and his NDP militants noticed how one-sided and twisted the UN has become??? Constantly preaching to the Western nations, backing militant indigenous demands; passing resolution after resolution pushing Islamic refugees, illegal migrants’ interests on Europe, UK,US, Canada, Australia etc … and of course, passing dozens of resolutions against Israel … but saying so little and doing NOTHING to stop the persecutions/tortures/murders/corruption and absolute lack of human rights in Arab/African/Asian, Cuba, Russia and all the dictatorships that back them!!!
Amazing how blind the left are to those, but fall for the one-sided crap that now comes out of the UN. Ho)
Not a chance of its repeal whatsoever with the NDP in power and all the schools promoting this ideology for generations to come to be indoctrinated in its philosophy. The federal Liberals also think it’s a good thing. Hence the CBC and other media promotion of it ad nauseum. We are hopped. I am waiting for the stalwart NDP supporters here to come and tell us what a good thing DRIPA is and how it will make our world a much better place to live. Bring it on “Not Sure” and “EAF”. I look forward to the laughs I will get from reading the drivel supporting a very stupid horrible policy.
(Response: Never give up when you believe really important matters of principle, with horrible potential economic impact is at stake and you truly believe you are on the right side of the issue.
In this case, perhaps one thing everyone who feels this is the case should do is send a link to this particular blog topic to everyone they know! Spread the word… keep up the pressure and educate everyone else to the stakes involved for our province. Ho)
DRIPA is only going to get worse … NDP seems to care less…I say the way it is going with the natives, just turn the entire province over to them and let them run it. Its only going to get worse, unless some politicians stands upright for all citizens of BC
(Response: the media should point out to Eby/NDP that they barely got reelected last time around. Certainly, they have no mandate to give away provincial lands to the first nations and certainly no mandate to place in danger the private lands of all British Colombians. FEB and the NDP have any integrity left, they would call an election and seek mandate for the course they are following with DRIPA. Ho)
If we get rid of the NDP because they are giving away the farm, we have to look the the BC Conservatives as they are the most likely to be opposed to UNDRIPA.
Of the leadership candidates, only one comes from the liberal’s side of the spectrum, and that’s Caroline Elliot. Can we really trust the left wing of the BC Conservatives to set back DRIPA?
Unlike some, I don’t find much to worry about from the right wing of the conservatives, as their most extreme view, is that schools should get out of the LBGTQ business.
(Response: It is one of the frequent and sometimes frustrating decisions that non-committed voters have to face: there is usually no party that pleases us completely. So we vote based on which issue motivates or upsets most at any given time… and hold our noses on other matters, at least until the next election. As for DRIPA I personally see it as the most consequential and even most dangerous issue that British Colombians will face this generation. It MUST be eliminated completely! There are other ways to address, legitimate indigenous, concerns, and issues… Without giving in to blackmail and handing away the entire future of land ownership in the province… and destroying BCs investment and development economy in the process.EBY must call an election on this issue to seek a mandate for his decision to completely cave-in! Ho)
Ebys Schrödinger’s UNDRIP?DRIPA. dilemma. Eh tu, nero?
(Response: Best news ever … for First Nations militants … and every country that competes with BC for development and investment dollars! Ho)
Well it appears that Eby is more afraid of the natives than he is of the voters because he has decided to drop all talk of changes to the DRIPA this year. Meanwhile the courts are merrily giving away all of BC to the natives because (they have to abide by DRIPA). What a mess!!! We are seriously considering selling our home before it is lost to the natives and we end up with nothing for all our money invested and all the hard work we have put in to make it the best it can be. Thanks for nothing Eby….
(Response: Surrender solves NOTHING! Not even a critic of EB like me could ever imagine that the premier of British Columbia… Supposedly representing all the people… Would totally capitulate and surrender to the first nations, placing in jeopardy the future ownership of all lands in BC! No one should believe that private land is guaranteed exempt from the demands of power, Hungary and money Hungary militant first nations leaders! This is a travesty for not only BC investment and development that will haunt us for years… It threatens EVERY British Columbian’s property rights … and EVERY BC NDP MLA and apologist will bear the responsibility when voters get their chance! Ho)
Not only that, it seems that most agreements come with a NDA so we will never know what was agreed to. And….the federal government also is doing deals with the natives along with a NDA. We are so cooked.
(Response: First Nations leaders (and band members) may be gloating over Eby’s surrender to them, but in the long term the NDP government’s caving in … and the consequences that will flow from their action … will just increase the friction and even the animosity that many British Columbians already feel towards the FN … especially when the economic consequences begin to hurt. Ho)
Eby is sunk, he knows it and the NDP knows it. The problem is that they cannot extricate themselves from this fiasco. Unless Eby completely abandons DRIPA (no fat chance), the NDP will face a total wipe out at the next election. The 2001 fiasco will look like child’s play.
Placating the first nations is a fools game because they will always want more. Government have made the First Nations professional victims and they and their lawyers know how to play the legal game.
Eby, part of that cozy armchair socialist cabal that lives on Vancouver’s tony West side, hasn’t a clue about being premier and is being advised by a cadre of Visionistas, hard core unionists, and anarchist socialists.
His attack on pensioners with charging compound interest on reverse mortgages is strike 2 and shows how out of touch with reality he is. Enrage the boomers, we are the ones that actually vote!
The NDP tend to forget history, especially the Gordon Campbell wipe out of the NDP and and a total wipe out in the next election may destroy the provincial party completely, with the remenents be taken over by the intellectual anarchists, as what happened to the Federal NDP.
I have no time for the Conservative party as they are filled with opportunists, Maple MAGA’s and anti science/anti-vax climate change deniers, but when the NDP threaten people with DRIPA, even that bunch of Conservative loons look good!
Eby must overturn DRIPA, anything less will be seen as total capitulation to the First Nations.
Those who fail to read history are doomed to repeat the same mistakes and it seems Eby and the NDP remain ignorant to what happened in BC in 2001.
I should add this as how incompetent the NDP are. Joy McPhail, one the architects of the FastFerry Fiasco is chair person of the BC Ferry Board and under her tenure, the ferries are falling apart, just ask the people on the Sunshine Coast.
Incompetence, thy name is the NDP!
(Response: Eby should COMPLETELY repeal DRIPA for two very good reasons: he should admit it was simply the wrong piece of legislation to try and solve land claims issues; and, he should wake up and realize that, even if he loses a considerable first nations vote, the very vast majority of British Colombians would agree with his move. Just look at the recent polls! Eby’s stubbornness could send the NDP back into oblivion in much of BC. Ho)
Update:
Headline in the morning news:
First Nations say Eby backs down again on B.C. Indigenous law.
Two First Nations leadership sources say British Columbia Premier David Eby is backing down again on the suspension of key parts of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, scrapping plans to table legislation on Monday.
One of the sources says the suspension bill — which was already delayed last week — won’t be tabled this legislative session, as a result of planned protests by First Nations.
My comment: Eby has just signed the NDP’s electoral death warrant and they have become a Trumpian “lame duck” government. This means we are now entering into a free-fall of dangerous times as Eby and the NDP will bankrupt the province on frills and distractions to stave off the end.
The NDP will suffer a cowards fate, forever becoming a one issue party.
Remember the FastFerries, Dave? No?, Well you better because DRIPA makes the Fast Ferry Fiasco small potatoes indeed.
Logically the first nations can claim the entire province.
The taxpayer now know where we stand, just “Milch Cows” for the NDP’s largess.
Enjoy what little time you have left in power Dave, the destroyer of BC, as you will be remembered as the idiot who lost it all.
While I ponder driving over the stal̕əw̓asəm Bridge I think. (Pattullo bridge if I call 911)-
BC the only province even looking at UNDRIP/DRIPA.?
For lawyers on both sides definitely benefit the longevity of this.?
A dumpster fire quicksand quagmire on turtle island.?
Eby moved from Ontario to BC 20 years ago about? Was lawyer before Premier?
Foreign interference with agenda?
https://nationalpost.com/opinion/carson-jerema-how-justin-trudeau-cost-canada-1-trillion
(Response: As always,with land claims issues, the lawyers will make fortune on DRIPA. Eby and the NDP should not have got BC into this mess in the first place! But it will be money well spent if once and for all, citizens can have their property rights protected. Ho)