Premier David Eby depicted a British Columbia at a crossroads between falling divided or succeeding together, in his keynote address at Indigenous Resource Opportunities Conference.

On Wednesday, June 3, Eby took the podium for a keynote address during the first day of the three-day event held in Nanaimo.

“Our fates are tied, whether we are Indigenous or non-Indigenous in British Columbia, if we are successful we will all benefit as a province, there is no question about it,” Eby said. “If we are not successful, we are divided, and if we fail our efforts, because of that we will all be poorer, I can assure you — there will be fewer jobs, less money for public services — it will be dire.”

The speech comes after the premier was prepared to introduce legislation suspending parts of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) until a deal was struck with the First Nations Leadership Council in April.

His decision wasn’t supported universally across legislature, with new B.C. Conservative Party leader, Kerry-Lynne Findlay, declaring that DRIPA must be repealed during her successful leadership campaign.

While he was largely non-partisan at the event on Wednesday, Eby took a hit at Findlay, pointing to a leadership debate last month, when Findlay suggested Peter Milobar, who was also running for Conservative leader, was in a “conflict of interest” for being married to an Indigenous woman.

“That’s not the kind of province I want for my kids,” Eby said. “That’s not the kind of future I want for my province, and I understand the pressure of leadership campaigns and all those other things, but what I don’t understand is not clarifying that, not taking it back, not addressing it — I think it’s inexcusable — but it’s an example of the choice we have in front of us.”

Eby went on to talk about the mining sector and the need to have a clear permit process, due to the volatility of the market, years it takes to create an operational mine and the large up-front costs.

“When I look at what is happening at mining in British Columbia and this is the ministry of environment making the clear commitment, we’re going to sit down with First Nations, we’re going to stay out of court, we’re going to work out agreements, we’re going to have the declaration act, we’re going to do this together … Last year we set a record for mining and exploration in the Province of British Columbia.”

Eby boasted about $4 billion in new mining investments this year, the first joint-environmental assessment process with the Tahltan Nation for Red Chris Mine, and efforts underway to do the same with Eskay Creek Mine.

“Those are multibillion-dollar investments, thousands of jobs, incredible mining activity setting records.”

The premier praised Cedar LNG, a proposed liquefied natural gas facility in Kitimat, B.C., which would be Indigenous majority-owned, and the recent announcement that Ksi Lisims LNG signed a $10-billion agreement with Europe to supply one million tons of gas per year. He also drew attention to 14 clean energy projects in the province, of which nine are majority Indigenous-owned.

“So when I say if we’re going to be successful as a province we have to be successful together, the reason why we’re able to do, the reason why we’re … one of two provinces that showed GDP growth year-over-year last year is because of what is happening in this room, it is because of the efforts in this room,” he said.

Following his presentation, he had a fireside chat with Dallas Smith, founder, president and CEO of the Nanwakolas Council, who questioned the premier on how to move away from the “litigation-led exercise” and transactional-led relationships.

Eby responded he understands when a First Nation feels court is the best option, but as a government, he said they are trying hard to find a path outside of court due to the “unpredictable nature of the decisions that come out the other end.”

“The Cowichan decision [as an example],” Eby added. “Cowichan didn’t go in asking for the keys to people’s homes or businesses or whatever, that’s not what they were asking for in court. We’ve issued a statement, after the court decision, with them saying the same thing, the provincial government aren’t coming for people’s homes, Cowichan aren’t coming for people’s homes.”

The premier said he felt the key part of that decision was ordering the province to sit down with Cowichan and work things out, which he added is what the province is doing.

“There is a limit to what courts can do, at the end of the day you have to sit down and work it out.”

– Files from Mark Page, Black Press

Chilliwack Progress

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