Members of B.C’s Legislative Assembly have overwhelmingly voted down a proposed act that would prohibit publicly funded employees in schools and other public bodies from making land acknowledgements.
It came from Dallas Brodie, the MLA for Vancouver-Quilchena who was booted from the B.C. Conservative Party in March after party leader John Rustad said she mocked and belittled the testimony of residential school survivors.
Her proposed private member’s bill, called the Land Acknowledgement Prohibition Act, said no acknowledgements should be allowed “that deny the sovereignty of the Crown within British Columbia or that attribute collective guilt to individuals based on race, ancestry or the actions of Canadian historical figures.”
A territorial or land acknowledgement involves making a statement recognizing the traditional territory of the Indigenous people who called the land home before the arrival of settlers, and in many cases still do call it home.
They’ve been practised by Indigenous people for centuries and have increasingly been used in non-Indigenous spaces in recent years.
The vast majority of MLAs — 88 of 93 — voted down Brodie’s bill in the legislature in Victoria on Thursday morning, in an unusual show of opposition for a first reading.
Those who voted to support the bill were Conservative MLAs Harman Bhangu and Heather Maahs along with Brodie and MLA Tara Armstrong.
Brodie and Armstrong, both former Conservative members, formed a new political party called One B.C. in July.
Former Conservative MLA Jordan Kealy also supported Brodie’s bill.
After the vote, Conservative MLA Á’a:líya Warbus denounced the bill saying it was contrary to accepted efforts and actions for reconciliation with Indigenous people in B.C. even if they make people uncomfortable.
“I just think it takes all the hard work we are doing and it completely distracts from that … this is reconciliation in B.C. and how it moves forward,” she said.
She advocated for people to have “hard conversations” about reconciliation and get on the “right side of history.”
Asked about the decision of two of her Conservative colleagues to support the bill, she said “that’s their call to make,” adding that free speech is allowed in the party and the vote was unwhipped.
Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation Spencer Chandra Herbert said people have tried to erase the history of First Nations in B.C. for too long.
“That’s, in part, one of the reasons why we follow First Nations tradition of making land acknowledgements, of acknowledging First Nations people,” he said.
He added that banning land acknowledgements would only further divide people.
“It’s like trying to push things under the carpet instead of acknowledging the truth.”
