Consultations under UNDRIP the focus for Skeena MLA Ellis Ross in first days of Fall Session

Skeena MLA Ellis Ross spoke to themes related to the
Early Learning and Child Care Act as part of the Tuesday
afternoon session at the BC Legislature

It was a return to a familiar topic for Skeena MLA Ellis Ross on Tuesday at the BC Legislature, with the themes of consultations towards the UNDRIP mechanism at the heart of the discussion related to the Early Learning and Child Care Act, that as Mr. Ross exchanged questions and comments with NDP Minister Katrina Chen over how the province is moving forward with its legsilation.

The nature of the conversation ws focused primarily as to how much consultation that the Provincial government took on with the Bands across the province as part of the government's work on the progress for UNDRIP.

To the minister, really what we're talking about is consultation. It seems to me we're talking specifically within the confines of UNDRIP the bill, but there were hundreds of court cases before UNDRIP came to be that actually the defined consultation in Canada, in the courts of B.C. in Canada. And that seems to be forgotten. The definition of consultation is well laid out. 

So when we're talking about this, we're talking about the further commitment under the UNDRIP document that said this government would consult on every piece of legislation existing, as well as proposed in terms of consultation with 203 bands in B.C. 

I thought at the time that was unrealistic. I have yet to hear whether or not any piece of legislation has actually reached 203 bands under the legal definition of consultation, because consultation is pretty exhaustive in terms of what the duty of the Crown has to uphold. 

It's got to be meaningful. It can't be just a notice of intention of the Crown to do something and expect feedback from a First Nation that's probably got 20 different things on their to-do list. 

So when we were talking about consultation, I was really talking about the commitments under UNDRIP to consult with 203 bands as promised as per UNDRIP, as well as upholding the duty of the Crown, not to organizations like the leadership council. 

The leadership council does not represent communities. They're an advocacy organization. In some cases, they represent organizations that you can join by just paying your dues. The representation of communities actually boils down to who is representing that community in question. 

So we haven't heard a list of any communities that were consulted, and so I just want to be clear. Is it my understanding that there were no communities actually consulted other than just notice of intention by the Crown?

Minister Katrina Chen responding to questions at the Tuesday session

In reply, the Minister outlined the process to date towards investments in early learning and child care as part of the government's committments on inclusion and reconciliation. 

I think it's important, again, to mention that universal, inclusive early learning and child care has never existed in this province before, and this legislation is the first step to pull that work together to ensure that through our work investing in early learning and child care, that investment is going to be inclusive, and when we work with Indigenous communities, there will be Indigenous-led child care, and there has been. 

There are some really good examples across the province through the learnings that we've had and the work that we've done with and learning from Indigenous communities. So it is the first key step to be able to continue that journey, and we will continue to learn and develop and improve along the way. 

And again, this act does require regulations to be drafted to come into force. Ministry staff, myself, our whole team, our government, will be co-developing those regulations and work hand in hand with Indigenous communities and partners and stakeholders across the province. 

Including engagement, consultation, opportunities for legislative co-development, which will also take place if amendments to the act are required for the future.

The answer was one that did not fulfil Mr. Ross's expectations for a response, with the Skeena MLA outlining his concerns over the process in use as part of some of his final comments on the topic.

So given that we haven't heard one mention of one community, let alone 50 percent of the 203 communities in B.C., am I to presume that this will be the standard, going forward, given what we've heard in this Legislature in terms of how this government refuses to consult with 203 bands in B.C., as previously committed under UNDRIP, and that this is just another example of how this government will actually bypass the consultation with 203 communities and actually just go to groups like the leadership council to fulfil that duty?

The full back and forth of the discussion can be reviewed from the Legislature Minutes for the Tuesday afternoon session at the 2:15 PM mark of the Legislature timeline.

You can also view the discussion from the Legislature Video archive starting at that same 2:15 PM mark.

For more notes related to the Legislature work of the Skeena MLA see our archive page here.