VANCOUVER – A First Nations leader whose wife is a B.C. government legislator says she doesn’t support Premier David Eby’s plan to suspend parts of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, and is “heartsick” over the issue.
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, who was among B.C. Indigenous leaders who condemned the suspension plan at a Vancouver news conference, says Eby has “sidelined” his caucus during DRIPA negotiations and the NDP has a “leadership issue.”
Phillip, who is president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs and whose wife is MLA Joan Phillip, says he can’t speak on her behalf but other legislators should vote with their conscience.
Joan Philip — who is suffering an undisclosed illness — is one of three Indigenous members of Eby’s caucus, which holds a one-seat majority in the legislature.
Eby has said passing legislation to pause sections of DRIPA that he believes pose legal peril to the province will be a confidence vote, and if it fails his government would fall.
The leaders say Eby’s plan has hurt their confidence in his leadership and that he and his government are not coming to the negotiating table to address First Nations’ concerns with the proposed suspension.
Leaders questioned why MLAs seem to be staying silent, even though they helped unanimously pass DRIPA in 2019, and say they should stand against the suspension.
Eby says the government faces “very serious litigation risk” if DRIPA remains as it is, but the leaders say his proposed changes are a “strategy of denial” that hurt reconciliation efforts between the B.C. government and First Nations.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 10, 2026.
Note to readers:This is a corrected story. A previous version cited Grand Chief Stewart Phillip saying his MLA wife did not support DRIPA. In fact, he said she does not support sections of DRIPA being paused.
