SURREY — First Nations are celebrating a British Columbia Court of Appeal ruling which found the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the provincial mineral claims regime are “inconsistent.”
The appeal ruling says the provincial Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act should be “properly interpreted” to incorporate UNDRIP into the laws of B.C. with immediate legal effect.
A statement from the Gitxaala Nation, one of two nations challenging the law, called the decision “precedent-setting”
“This is an exciting victory not only for Gitxaala but for all Nations. Justice is catching up to the truth with today’s B.C. Court of Appeal decision,” Gitxaala Chief Councillor Linda Innes said in the statement Friday.
“We have said all along that B.C.’s out-of-date, colonial mineral tenure regime violates Canada’s own laws, the UN declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and our Gitxaala laws. Now B.C.’s highest court has agreed.”
The nation, along with the Ehattesaht First Nation, argued that 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.
A joint statement from the First Nations Leadership Council and the BC Civil Liberties Association said the decision “breathes new life into the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act” and affirms the substantive legal effect of the UN declaration.
Regional Chief Terry Teegee said in the statement that the victory “sends a ground-shaking message to the provincial government.”
“The (provincial) Declaration Act is legally binding and cannot be implemented or interpreted in a unilateral Crown approach,” he said in the statement.
“The provincial government must honour in good faith the legal commitment it made to the First Nations of this province.”
The provincial government passed the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act into law in November 2019.
The government said that act establishes the UN declaration as B.C.’s “framework for reconciliation.”
B.C. Premier David Eby said his government will review the court decision that appears to show “confusion” and will amend the provincial legislation if necessary.
Eby said the decision “potentially puts courts in the driver’s seat instead of British Columbians.”
The premier said the government could appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, but it would more likely amend the legislation.
“But to be frank, it is absolutely crucial that it is British Columbians through their elected representatives that remain in control of this process, not the courts,” Eby said at an unrelated event in Surrey, B.C.
“Too much rides on it in terms of our province’s prosperity and certainty going forward. So, I think it just as likely or perhaps more likely that we would proceed with amendments to provide clarity around what was clearly intended when we introduced this legislation, and the court appears to have some confusion about that.”
The Opposition B.C. Conservatives said in a statement that Eby should recall the legislature so the provincial legislation can be repealed.
“This ruling highlights exactly what happens when government tries to legislate reconciliation through vague and undefined promises,” deputy critic for Indigenous relations and reconciliation Scott McInnis said in the statement.
“British Columbians deserve certainty and transparency. Indigenous communities deserve meaningful consultation that is done properly and up front. Instead, the BC NDP built a system that ran on autopilot, then created years of legal uncertainty for everyone.”
The Association for Mineral Exploration was an intervener in the case, and president Todd Stone said in a statement that it will review the decision and the likelihood of a future appeal.
B.C.’s Human Rights Commissioner Kasari Govender, also an intervener in the case, said she welcomed the decision, calling it “groundbreaking” in affirming the rights of Indigenous Peoples.
“The Declaration Act and the implementation of UNDRIP cannot be merely symbolic,” Govender said in a statement. “Today’s affirmation that the Declaration Act has real legal import that can be applied by courts supports the future of human rights, and Indigenous rights in particular, in the province.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 5, 2025.
The Canadian Press
