Court decision recognizes UNDRIP as law, but leads province to look at revising legislation

By Nora O’Malley, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Ha-Shilth-Sa First Nations in B.C. may be entitled to raise their UNDRIP rights if they are not adequately consulted on natural resource projects within their territory, following a precedent-setting B.C. Court of Appeal decision released on Dec. 5. Ehattesaht Chief Counsellor Simon John says the court decision “provides important legal recognition of UNDRIP as a tool to help ensure that First Nations’ interests are respected and their role in decision making is realized.” “We know our lands, our waters here at home and want to be respected in how the Crown approaches us and want decisions to be made with us,” said Chief John in a media release. “We want investment, we want jobs and to grow our community, but mining here was…

Add Your Voice

Is there more to this story? We'd like to hear from you about this or any other stories you think we should know about. Contribute your voice on our contribute page.