A proposal by the British Columbia Government that will introduce significant changes towards land use issues and engagement with Indigenous Nations, will make for the topic of an upcoming webinar session from the Union of British Columbia Municipalities.
The provincial organization that represents the province's municipal governments has heard the questions of its members on the plans.
UBCM officials met with provincial staff in late January to request that the BC Government hold an engagement session for local governments, that to share more about what the Provincial plan for amendments to the Land Act mean for municipal government.
As they note in an information statement to the topic, that webinar is set for Wednesday, February 21 from 9 to 10 AM, those municipal governments interested in taking part are to email the UBCM to register.
The process towards shared decision making with Indigenous Governing Bodies is moving forward as part of the BC Government's provincial framework on Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples know as DRIPA.
Towards effecting that change amendments to the pre existing Land Act will be required .
Last week, we outlined how Minister Nathan Cullen had been put in the spotlight related to the rather quiet launch of the consultation process, the alert for participants limited to a little known page on the government website.
Missing from the the roll out was any larger information statement, or missives from Minister Cullen who is among the most active of MLA's on social media,
The Minister's first mention of the topic coming January 27th with a Twitter X thread that after the Legislature Media had noted of the quiet nature of the engagement roll out.
Mr Cullen added a bit more information to the topic on February 1st with some important notes to the process from the British Columbia Assembly of First Nations.
The proposed Land Act amendments are a critical next step for the Province in fulfilling its commitments under the Declaration Act and to align its decision-making processes with the UN Declaration and FNLC supports the Province’s work in this regard.
The amendments will allow the Province to negotiate decision-making agreements with First Nations under the Land Act in the future. Any agreements that are negotiated will be subject to the public engagement processes mandated under the Declaration Act.
Contrary to comments that have been made about the proposed Land Act amendments, they will not grant a “veto” to First Nations governments, and they will not immediately alter the existing land tenure system in British Columbia.
Rather, they will make space for the recognition and implementation of First Nations’ unceded governance rights in relation to land and resource development in their territories – through negotiation and agreement with the Province in accordance with the Declaration Act – rights which have been largely ignored by colonial governments for the last century and a half.
One missed opportunity towards a more engaged introduction came in mid Janaury when the Minister and Premier were in attendance at the Natural Resources Forum in Prince George, which would have seemed to be a good spot to introduce a wide ranging change to the land use process.
As we noted above and outlined in January, the less than enthusiastic sharing of the plans to amend the Land Act, have made for more than a few columns from some of the top observers of the Legislature.
The parade of columns questioning the NDP government's commitment to consultation came from Vancouver Sun columnist Vaughn Palmer, he had three columns of note on the topic related to the Minister's approach to information sharing.
Also highlighting the BC Government plans, once they became more widely known, were the Globe and Mail's Justine Hunter and Rob Shaw who covers the Legislature for CHEK TV and Northern Beat.
You can review more of their work from our political Blog D'Arcy McGee and our Victoria Viewpoints archive.
What British Columbians need to know about the Engagement process which comes to a close on March 31st can be reviewed here.
More of our notes on the work of Northwest MLA's at the Legislature can be reviewed here.
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