Eby Passed the Law. Eby Suspended the Law. First Nations Called It ‘Absolute Betrayal.’

In 2019, British Columbia’s NDP government passed the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act — DRIPA — and called it a landmark for reconciliation. The law committed the province to ensuring all its statutes align with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. It was hailed as the most significant piece of Indigenous rights legislation in Canadian history.¹

On April 2, 2026, Premier David Eby announced he would suspend that law for up to three years. He made it a confidence vote — meaning his three Indigenous NDP MLAs will be forced to vote for the suspension or bring down their own government. And a leaked 17,000-word transcript of the meeting where Eby presented the plan to First Nations leaders shows them calling it an “absolute betrayal.”

The transcript, obtained by The Canadian Press, captures nearly two hours of Indigenous leaders confronting Eby directly. Speaker after speaker rejected the suspension. One told Eby he had insisted on “fracturing the relationship between First Nations and BC” by publicly declaring the changes “non-negotiable” the day before the meeting. Another called the premise of the meeting “disingenuous.”²

“It really shook my confidence in you as the premier and your ability to work with us on something so important as DRIPA,” one leader said, adding that Eby is “not there anymore” as a partner. Another said the government’s behaviour “smacks of colonialism.” One accused Eby of “Indian giving” — saying that after First Nations finally saw “some light” in how they were treated, Eby’s moves “close the door.”

“This act that you’re doing now — these feelings and this sentiment that you’re putting forward is the same sentiment of colonization, of piece by piece taking our rights, our purpose, away from us.”

The crisis was triggered by the Gitxaala ruling — a December 2025 BC Court of Appeal decision that found DRIPA should be “properly interpreted” to incorporate the UN Declaration into provincial law “with immediate legal effect.” The case challenged BC’s automated mineral claims registry, which allowed prospecting on Crown land without consulting Indigenous groups. The court ruled the system was inconsistent with DRIPA’s requirements.³

Eby says the ruling created “huge legal uncertainty” because it effectively meant BC would need to align all its laws with UNDRIP at once — something the government lacked the staff and political capital to do. He used the analogy of needing to “eat the whole elephant” and argued the suspension was the “least invasive” way to mitigate the legal risk while the case is appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada.

chris robert / Unsplash — Speaker after speaker in the leaked transcript accused Eby of ‘fracturing the relationship,’ making ‘rash decisions,’ and behaving in a way that ‘smacks of colonialism.’ One leader said Eby was ‘not there anymore’ as a partner.

First Nations disagree with the province’s interpretation entirely. Robert Phillips of the First Nations Summit said the province’s response is “entirely political and misdirected.” First Nations “simply do not agree with the province’s interpretation of the Gitxaala decision,” he said.⁴

The sections of DRIPA facing suspension are the core of the legislation. One says every BC law must be construed as consistent with DRIPA. Another says nothing should be construed as delaying its application. A third affirms the act’s purpose — the application of Indigenous rights to BC’s laws. A fourth requires the government to take all measures necessary to ensure consistency. The final section relates to progress reporting.⁵

What remains after the suspension are sections allowing the government and First Nations to sign resource agreements — the transactional pieces. What is suspended is the legal obligation to actually implement the rights the law was supposed to guarantee.

Eby has made the suspension a confidence vote. His NDP holds a single-seat majority. Three of his MLAs are Indigenous. First Nations leaders have urged those members to vote against the legislation or not show up. Eby said he is not worried: “We have a strong and united caucus.”⁶

The political trap is deliberate. By attaching the suspension to a confidence motion, Eby forces Indigenous members of his own caucus to choose between their communities and their government. A vote against the suspension would trigger an election — and the BC Conservatives are running on repealing DRIPA entirely. At least one leader in the transcript acknowledged this, warning fellow chiefs they “cannot afford to not give a damn about” who is premier and suggesting they may be “overestimating” their power.

The opposition BC Conservatives criticized the suspension from the opposite direction — interim leader Trevor Halford said Eby’s announcement had made things worse, not better.

David Eby’s NDP government passed DRIPA in 2019 and called it a landmark. In 2026, Eby is suspending it — gutting the sections that require his government to actually implement Indigenous rights — and forcing his three Indigenous MLAs to vote for the suspension or bring down the government. The First Nations leaders who met with Eby did not mince words. They called it “absolute betrayal.” They called it colonialism. They said Eby is “not there anymore” as a partner. They accused him of “Indian giving.” And they pointed out what the transcript makes clear: the premier who built his political identity on reconciliation is now suspending the law that was supposed to deliver it — not because the courts said he had to, but because the courts said the law actually means what it says.