“We have been left with no choice” the Pender Harbour and Area Residents Association stated in a May 13 press release that announced its plan to file B.C. Supreme Court proceedings to ask for a ruling that the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) is beyond the province’s constitutional power.
Their action will further request a declaration that Order in Council (OIC) 2022-0444 is invalid. That OIC, approved May 2, 2022 authorizes the Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation and the Minister of Forests to negotiate an agreement with the shíshálh Nation (at that time the Sechelt Indian Band), to allow the joint exercise of the power under section 11 of the Land Act to dispose of Crown land within a specific area for the purpose of a private or commercial dock.
The OIC is part of the basis for the establishment of a swiya-wide dock management plan (DMP), the terms of which are currently under development. The province launched public consultation on the DMP in November 2023. After that closed in February 2024, it announced over 1,700 comments came in. To review those, an advisory group which includes representatives of Coast local governments, interest groups and owners of existing dock facilities was established. That group is slated to provide recommendations on proposed DMP provisions to the province and the Nation before the end of May.
In its release, PHARA indicated it respects constitutionally protected Aboriginal rights and it supports the principle of reconciliation but believes the DRIPA goes far beyond those principles and is causing unnecessary divisions.
“We take this action only after serious reflection and with a deep sense of responsibility,” PHARA director and spokesperson Sean McAllister said in the release. “But after nearly two years of being shut out of the shíshálh s. 7 agreement negotiations, after watching the botched consultations on the proposed Land Act amendments and after seeing government repeatedly go far beyond what Canada’s constitution requires in terms of Aboriginal rights, we have been left with no choice.
“Now that this decision has been made PHARA looks forward to the court process playing out. In the meantime, we intend to continue our efforts to build a strong and united community and we hope the province, the shíshálh Nation and others will appreciate that seeking judicial guidance here is a legitimate and respectful step in the reconciliation process.”
