The Supreme Court of Canada will hear British Columbia’s appeal of a ruling that found the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the provincial mineral claims regime are “inconsistent.”
The B.C. Court of Appeal ruled in December that the provincial Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) should be “properly interpreted” to incorporate UNDRIP into the laws of B.C. with immediate legal effect.
At the time, a statement from the Gitxaala Nation, one of two nations challenging the law, called the decision precedent-setting.
The nation, along with the Ehattesaht First Nation, argued the operation of an automated online registry permitting “free miners” to register claims to mineral rights on Crown land before consulting affected First Nations was inconsistent with the Crown’s duty to consult.
The provincial government passed DRIPA into law in November 2019.
The government said the act establishes the UN declaration as B.C.’s “framework for reconciliation.”
B.C. Premier David Eby said in December that the Court of Appeal decision “potentially puts courts in the driver’s seat instead of British Columbians.”
Eby said it was “absolutely crucial” that residents of the province, through their elected representatives, remain in control of the process.
“Too much rides on it in terms of our province’s prosperity and certainty going forward,” he said.
Following its usual practice, the Supreme Court gave no reasons Thursday for agreeing to review the case. No date for a hearing has been set.
