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Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Windspeaker.com
Update May 29: The NDP Government of British Columbia passed Bill 14, the Renewable Energy Projects (Streamlined Permitting) Act, and Bill 15, the Infrastructure Projects Act, on May 28 when Speaker Raj Chouhan cast the tiebreaking vote. Royal Assent of the Bills is expected today, ushering them into law.
In a unified stand, the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) and the First Nations Leadership Council (FNLC), made up of the political heads of the BC Assembly of First Nations, First Nations Summit, and the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, have called on British Columbia to withdraw Bill 15, the Infrastructure Projects Act.
Bill 15 is designed to expedite approvals for projects through granting greater ministerial powers. The bill, says the FNLC and UBCM, gives the province sweeping powers to fast-track major projects while skipping key steps in environmental assessment and oversight, mandatory public comment periods, and engagement with First Nations.
The Act is purportedly part of a response to tariffs imposed by the United States administration of President Donald Trump. Canada’s new federal government, led by Prime Minister Mark Carney, was elected with a mandate to build major national projects to become less reliant on the U.S. as a trading and security partner. Provincial governments are preparing to lessen the impacts of the tariffs on their own economies by looking to access resources the rest of the world may want as trade with Asia and Europe opens.
First Nations and the union, however, cite government overreach of power, lack of consultation, and violation of Indigenous reconciliation commitments in their objection to the legislation, currently at the committee stage after first reading in the 43rd parliament led by NDP Premier David Eby. Time allocation has been called and the final vote on Bill 15 will be May 28, said Leah George-Wilson of the First Nations Summit, who opened a joint press conference with the FNLC and the UBCM May 22.
Regional Chief Terry Teegee of the BC Assembly of First Nations called for respectful and meaningful dialogue instead of “pushing this ill-conceived legislation through, which fundamentally threatens our sovereignty and governance and will negatively affect future generations."
He said Bill 15 does not live up to First Nations’ “expectations” in their relationship with the province.
He said the bill will be used to fast-track approval of contentious projects, bypassing required consultation with First Nations, consultation as set out in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and B.C.’s enabling legislation the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA).
“We’re already seeing this happen in terms of Mount Polley,” referring to the controversial copper-gold mine that had a devastating tailings dam breach in 2014. The B.C. government recently approved a four-metre rise on the tailing storage facility, a project currently facing legal challenge from Xatśūll First Nation, which is questioning consultation and environmental review of that project.
Teegee condemned the intent and timing of Bill 15, saying it undermines Indigenous jurisdiction under the guise of economic urgency prompted by Trump’s tariffs.
Some of these tariff threats “haven't happened or perhaps will not happen, considering that President Trump is really falling in terms of favor. It's one of the lowest that we've seen any president sit at in the 30 to 40 percentile,” said Teegee of Trump’s approval rating of U.S. voters.
“There is no need to fast track these bills. There's no need to have overreaching jurisdiction, overreaching powers,” Teegee said. “It's really important that we have a fulsome discussion, how decisions are made and how policies develop, especially if this existential threat isn't a threat anymore.”
Teegee stressed that First Nations are not against development and understand that projects will get the green light, but there is insight into projects needed by First Nations on their traditional territories.
Robert Phillips of the First Nations Summit called out the province for abandoning the “decades of work” it took to develop tools of reconciliation and collaboration, including DRIPA.
In the face of the Trump tariffs and expansion of trade beyond the U.S., First Nations and governments should be working together, Phillips said. He reminded the province that the resources Canada and B.C. wish to exploit are on Aboriginal title and treaty lands.
He said B.C. has developed a framework and related processes to do the joint work required. But B.C. decided to develop Bill 15 and a possible “suite of bills”, unilaterally, contrary to section 3 of DRIPA, passed into law unanimously by the BC legislature in 2019, establishing UNDRIP as the framework for reconciliation.
“The province did not take all necessary measures to ensure consistency with (UNDRIP), it did not consult, and it did not collaborate in partnership on a government-to-government basis with First Nations,” said Phillips.
He said it was extraordinary that Premier Eby would think that First Nations would be OK with his failure to live up to statutory obligations to Aboriginal title and rights holders.
“The premier has essentially presented us with a trust us model… (a) foundation of trust that is just not there.”
Phillips said B.C. was “at a crossroads.” Either turn to the direction of reconciliation and follow the province’s own legal obligations or it can “choose to walk—no, actually it’s running—down an old road, an old colonial road. And this can only lead to conflict, litigation and regression.”
Without certainty, Bill 15 and other unilaterally developed legislation, will lead to conflict, confrontation and the courts, said Phillips.
“We need to be in partnership. Our chiefs are frustrated. They are upset and they feel betrayed.” With one swipe of the pen, he said, the premier can put all of this off until the fall.
“And that's what we're calling for, to kill the bill,” said Phillips.
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs said Premier Eby is breaking B.C. law with Bill 15. The legislation, along with Bill 14, the Renewable Energy Projects (Streamlined Permitting) Act, must be withdrawn as their development ignores section 3 of DRIPA, which mandates engagement with First Nations, he said.
“Some of these projects that are scheduled for fast-tracking are outrageous.”
UBCM President Trish Mandewo called Bill 15 “a common challenge” for her organization and the FNLC. She said the drafting of the bill has been rushed, and “mistakes happen when legislation is pushed through too quickly.”
She said the bill provides the provincial cabinet with “extraordinary powers” to override regulations, and it represents an unnecessary overreach by the province into local decision making. Like First Nations, she said local governments were also not meaningfully consulted. Mandewo warned that the bill could undermine official community plans, zoning bylaws and approval processes, creating liability and financial uncertainty for local taxpayers.
By rushing the bill and “standing behind the bill so aggressively, the province has failed to generate support and trust from local governments,” Mandewo said. “I believe that this bill is eroding public trust.”
She said decision-making is being removed from local communities and is being centralized in Victoria, the city in which the provincial government sits.
British Columbia is not alone in its attempt to expedite access to resources through major projects legislation and it’s not alone in the resulting push-back.
Bill 5, Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act, 2025, is also being condemned by First Nations in that province as a run-around of free, prior and informed consent and legally mandated consultations. The Doug Ford-led conservative government says the bill seeks to cut red tape to fast-track mineral extraction in the Ring of Fire region in northern territories and push nuclear energy projects.
Local Journalism Initiative Reporters are supported by a financial contribution made by the Government of Canada.