B.C. premier seeks agreement on DRIPA changes by fall: 'The most challenging issue I've worked on'

File photo: B.C. Premier David Eby addresses a news conference at the legislature in Victoria on April 2, 2026. Photo by Government of B.C.

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B.C. Premier David Eby insisted Monday he could have amended the province’s signature reconciliation law if he wanted to, but chose to chart a different path suggested by his attorney general.

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Eby said debate around the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act is the toughest challenge he’s had to deal with in government and acknowledged that it has taken him a number of tries to get it right.

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“This has been, if I can speak frankly, probably the most challenging issue I’ve worked on in government. It is absolutely possible, as a leader, to move off confidently in the wrong direction,” said Eby.

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“I believe we had the votes. I believe we were able to do that. But my commitment to British Columbians, to First Nations leaders, and to others is, if there is a path for us to do that together, then I want to take it so we’ll take the time to sit down together and try to find that path.”

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Eby said his government had been ready to introduce legislation on Monday that would have suspended DRIPA. However, he said Attorney General Niki Sharma had been making calls to First Nations leaders and came to him last week with another option.

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The premier said that he then met with First Nations leaders virtually on Sunday along with Sharma and Indigenous Relations Minister Spencer Chandra Herbert, with the two sides agreeing to “genuine collaboration to find solutions as soon as possible, and before the fall legislative session.”

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Eby has been grappling with dissent from his caucus and anger from First Nations over his plans to either amend or suspend DRIPA. The premier has argued that DRIPA, in its current form, leaves the province open to litigation.

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In December, the B.C. Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the Gitxaała Nation that the Mineral Tenure Act was inconsistent with DRIPA and needed to be changed.

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The government has said that 20 lawsuits against the province have already been amended after the Gitxaała decision and that if DRIPA were left unchanged, other laws were vulnerable to being shot down by the courts.

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After initially promising amendments to DRIPA, Eby proposed a suspension of most of DRIPA for three years while the province appealed the B.C. Court of Appeals decision. He made that switch after a meeting with First Nation leaders on April 2.

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He said those changes were “non-negotiable” and initially made it a confidence motion before backing down after Vancouver-Strathcona MLA Joan Phillip, whose husband is Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the B.C. Union of Indian Chiefs, told Eby she couldn’t support any changes to DRIPA.

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According to sources who spoke to Postmedia on the condition of anonymity, at least 10 MLAs voiced concerns about the possible suspension or amending of DRIPA at a caucus meeting on April 11.