Vaughn Palmer: NDP's latest makeover of Heritage Conservation Act running into strong opposition

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The Institute questioned the NDP government decision to proceed in the face of the increased uncertainty brought on by recent court decisions regarding private property and the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA).

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“UDI does not support the proposed changes to the HCA moving forward at this time. There has already been a tremendous amount of economic uncertainty within our sector, and this has been increased with concerns about private property rights and the implementation of the Declaration Act.”

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The Independent Contractors and Businesses Association challenged the claims in the technical paper, such as the supposed abandonment of the “intangible cultural heritage” designation.

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“We acknowledge the removal of intangible heritage as a defined term,” wrote the association. “However, the paper proposes to streamline the designation process for sites of spiritual, ceremonial or other cultural value to First Nations, by shifting approval authority from the cabinet to the minister alone.

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“Reducing the approval threshold while expanding the universe of sites that may seek designation creates the same uncertainty for our members that intangible heritage would have.”

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The B.C. Business Council objected that the government was still leaving much of the detailed work on heritage designations to regulations that would be adopted after the legislation itself is passed.

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“In addition, the proposed approach does not include direct industry participation, while it continues to emphasize co‑development with Indigenous people.”

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The latter is a reference to the initial proposal, the product of two years effort by a working group of provincial officials and Indigenous leaders, who laboured in secret behind a wall of non-disclosure agreements.

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Together, they identified 57 areas in the Act that should be changed, and reached consensus on 53 changes. Only then did they present the revised proposal to local government leaders, who rightly felt confronted by a fait accompli.

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“If you want to know what DRIPA means in practice, it is on display in plain sight with the government’s handling of the Heritage Conservation Act,” as one observer of the process put it recently.

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“We do not support co‑development arrangements with Indigenous people,” wrote the business council in its response to last months’ technical paper.

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Rather, the province should establish a working group with full industry participation and open discussion of the proposals.

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“There should be no confidentiality obligations or requirements for non‑disclosure agreements, as there are no known legal, regulatory, or contractual barriers that would restrict full document sharing.”

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But there is no indication that the New Democrats will abandon their co-management approach with Indigenous leaders.

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On the way into the legislature Wednesday, Parmar said he is digesting the feedback, yet still with a view to introducing amendments to the Act during the fall session of the legislature.

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