Eby Backs Down on DRIPA Changes After First Nations Pressure in BC

British Columbia Premier David Eby has shelved a controversial proposal to amend the province's Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, capping a turbulent month in which First Nations leaders mobilised against legislation they said would have undermined a landmark agreement on Indigenous rights. Eby said this week that the bill will not be tabled in the current legislative session and that his government will work with First Nations on a new path forward.

The retreat marks one of the most consequential reversals of Eby's premiership and has reopened questions about how British Columbia, alone among Canadian provinces in having codified the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in domestic law, should implement that commitment in practice. Eby himself has called the controversy one of the biggest challenges of his political career.

What was on the table

The shelved bill would have changed how DRIPA interacts with major project approvals, land-use decisions and resource consultations. The province had argued that the changes were necessary to provide clarity to industry, particularly in liquefied natural gas, mining and forestry, where uncertainty over consent thresholds has slowed investment.

First Nations across the province pushed back forcefully, arguing that the proposed changes would have weakened the consent standards that DRIPA was designed to protect. Multiple First Nations organisations warned that they were prepared to take direct action and pursue litigation if the bill advanced. The Premier called the changes "non-negotiable" earlier this month, before reversing course in a series of meetings with First Nations leaders this week.

Eby announced on April 19 that the bill would not be tabled in the current session. Government officials said work will continue on the substance of the policy questions, but with a more deliberate consultation process and on a longer timeline.

Why DRIPA matters

The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, passed in 2019 with all-party support, made British Columbia the first province in Canada to align its laws with the United Nations Declaration. The federal government followed with similar legislation in 2021. The provincial law commits the government to work with Indigenous Peoples to bring provincial statutes into alignment with the UN Declaration, and to develop an action plan to implement it.

Implementation has been slower and more contested than initial supporters anticipated. The act does not give First Nations a veto over individual projects, but it sets a high bar for consent and consultation that has changed how major resource developments and land-use decisions move through provincial processes. That high bar has been the subject of growing complaints from industry, particularly in the LNG sector that British Columbia is racing to expand.

For First Nations, DRIPA is a hard-won recognition of rights they say have been ignored for generations. The willingness of First Nations leaders to mobilise so quickly against the proposed amendments reflects the significance of the law as a marker of nation-to-nation relations.

The political context

The DRIPA controversy comes at a politically delicate moment for the BC NDP. Eby leads a minority government that depends on the support of the Greens to survive close votes in the legislature, and his polling numbers have softened over the past year as the province grapples with affordability, the toxic drug crisis and a slowing economy. The DRIPA file added a third dimension of pressure, this time from the very communities the NDP has long counted on as part of its political base.

The Premier acknowledged in remarks this week that the way the proposal was rolled out had alienated First Nations partners. He framed the decision to shelve the bill as a recognition that the government's process had been flawed, even if the underlying policy questions remain unresolved.

Opposition parties have seized on the reversal, with the BC Conservatives arguing that the government has lost control of the file and the Greens praising First Nations leaders for forcing the climbdown. Both opposition parties have called for clearer guarantees that future amendments will be developed in genuine partnership with rights-holders rather than imposed.

Industry reaction

The province's energy and resource industries have voiced disappointment. LNG developers, in particular, have argued that ongoing uncertainty about consent processes is making British Columbia less competitive at a time when global demand for Canadian gas is accelerating. The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers said the province needs a clearer regulatory framework regardless of the political controversy.

Industry concerns have also been amplified by a separate development this week, when the province finalised a new royalty regime on gas extraction that has unsettled investors weighing major LNG investments. The combination of regulatory uncertainty under DRIPA and the new royalty structure has prompted public warnings from industry analysts that British Columbia's reputation as a stable jurisdiction for major energy projects could be at risk.

Whether those concerns translate into actual investment decisions will depend in part on how Eby manages the next phase of consultations with First Nations. The Premier has signalled that he wants to work toward a renewed agreement that addresses both rights and predictability, but the path to that agreement is now back at the start.

Federal implications

The British Columbia situation has direct federal resonance. Prime Minister Mark Carney has made resource development and Indigenous reconciliation central to his government's economic agenda, and the federal Defence Industrial Strategy includes a major commitment to working with Indigenous communities on critical minerals and energy infrastructure.

Federal Indigenous Services Minister Rebecca Alty highlighted Canada's progress on Indigenous rights, health and climate leadership at the 25th United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues this week, while Governor General Mary Simon told the same forum that Canada is making progress but acknowledged that the path is far from complete. The provincial DRIPA controversy is a reminder of how uneven that progress can be in practice.

What it means for Canadians

The DRIPA reversal will resonate well beyond British Columbia. Other provinces, including Ontario and Quebec, have watched the British Columbia experiment carefully as they consider how to implement the federal version of the legislation. The BC government's decision to shelve its proposed amendments will likely prompt a slower, more deliberate national conversation about how consent provisions interact with existing project-approval processes.

For First Nations communities, the decision is being framed as a reaffirmation of the principle that rights-based legislation cannot be amended without genuine partnership. For the resource industry, the focus now turns to whether the province can deliver a clear and predictable framework without that framework coming at the expense of consent standards.

What's next

The provincial government has committed to working with First Nations on how to implement DRIPA going forward, but has not provided a detailed timeline. Eby's office has said the consultations will be substantive and will involve First Nations leadership at the highest levels.

In parallel, the province is dealing with a series of other Indigenous-rights flashpoints. A coalition of First Nations announced earlier this week that they were prepared to block major projects and pursue legal action if British Columbia did not pause two treaty agreements with the Kitselas First Nation and the K'omoks First Nations, citing overlapping territorial claims that they say were not properly addressed in those agreements.

For Eby, the next several months will be a test of whether his government can rebuild trust with First Nations partners while keeping investment flowing in a province whose economy increasingly depends on the very resource projects that DRIPA touches. The shelving of the bill has bought time, but the underlying policy questions remain open.