At a weekend caucus meeting, 10 NDP MLAs reportedly expressed concerns about the legislation
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B.C. Premier David Eby finds himself in a tight spot as he gets set to introduce legislation that would suspend the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, also known as DRIPA, which has divided his caucus and angered First Nations.
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On Monday, Government House Leader Mike Farnworth said the bill will no longer be a confidence bill, as Eby had said it would be, and won’t be introduced this week as planned.
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“The bill will not be coming in today or this week,” said Farnworth. “I can tell you that when a bill comes forward, it will not be a confidence vote.”
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Making the DRIPA-suspension legislation a confidence vote would mean that if it failed to pass, Eby would be forced to call an election. The NDP, with a one-seat majority, needs all of its MLAs to vote in favour of the bill.
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However, multiple sources told Postmedia that five to six MLAs have indicated they may not vote in favour of suspending DRIPA. At an emergency caucus meeting on Saturday, a total of 10 NDP MLAs voiced their concern about the upcoming legislation.
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Those opposed include Vancouver-Strathcona MLA Joan Phillip, who a source said has told the premier about her decision even if she hasn’t stated it publicly.
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Eby said Monday that Phillip’s decision not support the legislation “changed the math” for the government but that the legislation will be introduced and passed this session.
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He said no other members of his caucus have told him they won’t support the legislation but acknowledged that the path the government has embarked on is tough for his caucus.
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“It is a really difficult conversation. It’s difficult inside our caucus. It’s difficult outside our caucus, and if I’ve done a poor job of communicating how challenging that is for us, then let me be clear about that right now,” said the premier.
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“It is absolutely important that we do our best to get this right, even now, we are engaging with chiefs to try to find a path forward in a way that they can support and I hope to be able to have some chiefs standing with us.”
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Eby said he would be open to extending the session to accommodate further debate on the bill but again ruled out waiting until the fall to introduce the legislation.
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Last week, Eby had said the legislation needed to be a confidence vote because “this is work that we have to do as a government” and that “we will have the votes that we need to pass this in the legislature.”
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The premier’s office has been making a last ditch effort to court Independents, such as Elenore Sturko and Amelia Boultbee, in an effort to ensure the government has the votes.
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Some of those familiar with what is going on with caucus discussions doubted that would be enough to push the government over the line, given the NDP’s one-seat majority.
