Indigenous Act can be repealed in days if Eby recalls legislature: Opposition leader

VICTORIA — The interim leader of the Conservative Party of B.C. says the Declaration on the Rights of the Indigenous Peoples Act can be repealed in a few days, if Premier David Eby immediately recalls the provincial legislature.

Trevor Halford says British Columbia cannot wait until February to repeal the legislation, following a court ruling that found the province’s mineral claims regime was “inconsistent” with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The ruling says that the provincial declaration should be “properly interpreted” to incorporate the UN declaration into law immediately, and the Crown has a duty to address “inconsistencies” between the UN declaration and B.C. laws.

Halford says the ruling is causing “uncertainty” and “chaos,” and if Eby waits until the next regular session of the legislature, it would be an “abdication of leadership.”

He says his party has sent a letter to Eby asking for the recall and the Conservatives will co-operate with the government if it means repealing the law as quickly as possible.

Eby said after the ruling came out on Friday that his government is open to amending the legislation.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 8, 2025.