Indigenous legislation among top issues at Union of B.C. Municipalities convention

An annual gathering of municipal leaders from across British Columbia is underway with the province’s Indigenous rights legislation high on the agenda, along with housing and public safety, among other topics.

The Union of B.C. Municipalities convention runs until Friday in Vancouver and president Cori Ramsay said the future of B.C.’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act would be top of mind for many of the nearly 2,000 expected delegates.

“I think it’s going to draw a ton of attention,” she said of a session on Tuesday to serve as a platform for both supporters and critics of the legislation. 

The convention program describes the session as bringing together various perspectives, with presenters including legal experts, the chiefs of two First Nations, and Laura Jones, president and CEO of the Business Council of British Columbia.

Ramsay said local governments were highly committed to reconciliation and had been working for years to build relationships with First Nations.

But the city councillor from Prince George, B.C., said uncertainty had stemmed from recent court rulings, including a successful challenge by First Nations to B.C.’s mineral tenure system.

The B.C. Court of Appeal said in the so-called Gitxaala ruling that B.C.’s Indigenous rights legislation, known as DRIPA, should be interpreted to incorporate the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples into provincial laws with immediate effect.

Premier David Eby cited the Gitxaala ruling in planning to suspend or amend DRIPA, but he backed down in April amid strong opposition from many Indigenous leaders, while members of the provincial Conservatives have called for the law to be scrapped altogether.

Ramsay said delegates would also ask Eby’s government to reverse clawbacks in funding for community housing, deal with unprecedented mental health and addiction issues in communities across B.C., and renew funding for the FireSmart program aimed at boosting resilience to worsening wildfires.

Both Eby and B.C. Conservative Party Leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay are scheduled to attend the conference later this week.

Delegates attending the conference would consider two special resolutions around the Housing Community and the FireSmart program, Ramsay said.

This week’s convention is unfolding against the backdrop of a potential record deficit in B.C. and the trade war with the United States.

“We recognize that the current level of spending by the provincial government is not sustainable,” Ramsay said.

“But you also have to realize that we are living with unprecedented, untreated mental health and addictions issues, and the provincial is responsible for social services.”

While trade also loomed large at last year’s convention, the conflict has entered a new phase after Canada matched U.S. tariffs with retaliatory measures.

“That (escalation) is something that’s absolutely on the minds of our members,” Ramsay said. “So, I think there is going to be a lively discussion, debate. I think it’s going to creep up into the networking events. It’s going to be on everyone’s mind.”  

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2026.