Opinion: David Eby calls in journalists to talk about Iran. All he got was questions about his failings on Indigenous issues
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VICTORIA — On a day when the fate of the NDP government and its relations with Indigenous people were the only topics for discussion at the legislature, the premier’s office invited reporters to hear David Eby’s views on — wait for it — the war with Iran.
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Foreign policy and anti-Trumpism being the last refuge of a desperate government.
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But if the New Democrats thought their choice to fill the message box would provide the slightest distraction, they were soon disabused of that notion when Eby opened up Monday’s news conference for questions from reporters.
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There followed 15 questions, none of them about Eby’s posturing about events on the other side of the world.
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He did get asked — on his ever-changing position on the Declaration Act — “how many climbdowns does your government have left when it comes to this issue?”
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He sidestepped with a commitment to keep working with Indigenous partners and changing course when necessary.
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“It is just my preferred way to do things,” the premier told reporters. “Obviously, I’d like to be right 100 per cent of the time, right out of the gate — That is not me. But recognizing, when we get things wrong that we’re willing to take a step back, fix it and move forward is, in fact, a strength of this government.”
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The “I,” “me,” and “my” part of that statement is more applicable than the “we,” to describe the Eby way of operating. His predecessor, John Horgan was more inclined to delegate, Eby less so.
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The marching orders on Indigenous relations have been dictated by the premier and an inner circle of advisers. NDP MLAs and even some ministers have been caught off guard by the premier’s rapid-fire changes of position on the Declaration Act.
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Still, the premier insists they are all in it together.
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“How to describe this?” Eby said. “One hundred per cent of our caucus, which includes me, hates the position that this court decision has put us in.”
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The position that this court decision has put them in? The B.C. Court of Appeal overturned the province’s mineral claims staking regime, finding it incompatible with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
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It did so on the basis of two pieces of legislation — the Declaration Act and the related Interpretation Act — that were produced in 2019-21 under Eby’s direction as attorney general.
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Both were drafted in what Eby himself described as “deep consultations” with Indigenous leaders.
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Now Eby wants to amend or suspend both without the extensive consultations with First Nations that produced them in the first place. “Unilaterally,” as Indigenous leaders see it, leading to their refusal to even discuss the changes.
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“It has been very challenging, frankly, to have a key partner of ours, the First Nations Leadership Council, say to us repeatedly that they will not engage with us on these questions if they at all touch on the idea of an amendment or a change to the Declaration Act,” Eby complained.
