Vaughn Palmer: B.C. premier dances rather than admitting DRIPA means co-government

AFN Regional Chief Terry Teegee speaks at the seventh B.C. Cabinet and First Nations Leaders' Gathering in 2022. Photo by Felipe Fittipaldi /Government of B.C.

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VICTORIA — Premier David Eby faced tough questions this week for abandoning his changes to the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act in the face of strong opposition from First Nations.

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Are the New Democrats “now co-governing the province with First Nations leadership?” asked Opposition Leader Trevor Halford.

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Eby’s initial response was to accuse the Conservatives “of deliberately twisting this to spread fear.”

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But Halford pointed out that he was simply quoting Terry Teegee, B.C. regional chief of the Assembly of First Nations.

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Teegee was asked point blank last week if “we are now in a position where roughly 200 First Nations are co-governing this province with the B.C. government.”

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“Is that true?” Asked CKNW radio host Jill Bennett.

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“Yes, that’s exactly right,” replied Teegee and went on to explain that co-governance was the essence of DRIPA.

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“Ultimately we have to get into a room — and First Nations have to get in the room — and to the negotiations table to make decisions on these important matters. Really, it is putting the spotlight on how development occurs.”

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Was the regional chief wrong when he said Indigenous leaders are now co-governing with the province, Halford asked the premier.

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Eby tried a second deflection. “This parliament remains supreme,” he replied. “But we are bounded by a Constitution that obliges us to do important work with First Nations.”

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However, Halford was not to be turned. He pressed Eby a third time on whether he agreed with Teegee’s claim of co-governance: “It’s a yes or no, premier.”

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No way was Eby going directly acknowledge the regional chief on co-governance. Instead the premier put the onus back on the Opposition.

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“We’ve got parliamentary representatives that are elected from every part of the province. We have to vote on laws,” replied Eby. “The sort of Conservative conversation that, at the end of the day, the parliament no longer matters — that it is some sort of different arrangement now — is simply not the case.”

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Eby’s ducking aside, it remained an open question whether the premier or the regional chief was the more reliable source of information on co-governance.

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Teegee was a central figure in the adoption of DRIPA under premier John Horgan. In a posthumous memoir published last year, Horgan named Teegee as one of the Indigenous leaders who persuaded him to endorse the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

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He indicated that Teegee was among the Indigenous leaders who oversaw the drafting of DRIPA itself. He further cited him as an authority on whether the UNDRIP guarantee of “free, prior and informed consent” for Indigenous people would amount to a veto.