Elections BC approves petition process to repeal BC NDP's DRIPA law | Daily Hive

Elections BC approves formal petition process to repeal BC NDP's controversial DRIPA law

David Eby. (Government of BC)

An MLA of the Conservative Party of BC has received approval to launch a province-wide petition seeking the repeal of Government of British Columbia’s highly controversial Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA).

Elections BC announced today that it has approved in principle an initiative petition application submitted by Harman Bhangu, the MLA for Langley-Abbotsford and the BC Conservatives’ transportation critic.

The approval allows Bhangu to proceed with collecting signatures under B.C.’s Recall and Initiative Act.

The petition process proposes the “Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Repeal Act, 2026.”

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The petition signing process will formally begin on Oct. 26, 2026, starting a 90-day canvassing period. The completed signature sheets must be submitted to Elections BC by Jan. 25, 2027.

To succeed, registered canvassers must collect signatures from at least 10 per cent of registered voters in each of B.C.’s 93 provincial electoral districts. Falling short in even one district would cause the entire petition to fail.

The precise number of required signatures will not be known until the petition is issued by Elections BC on Oct. 26 because it will be calculated using the number of registered voters in each district as of that day. Only people registered to vote by that date will be eligible to sign.

Even if organizers collect enough signatures, DRIPA would not be repealed automatically. It would not be binding. Elections BC would verify the signatures and send the petition and draft bill to the B.C. legislature for consideration.

A legislative committee would then decide whether to recommend introducing the bill or put the proposal to a province-wide vote. In either case, the law would be repealed only if the bill were ultimately passed by the legislature and received royal assent.

In a statement to Daily Hive Urbanized, Spencer Chandra-Herbert, the B.C. Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation, strongly criticized the proposed repeal, arguing that it would threaten jobs, investment, and B.C.’s relationships with First Nations.

“Partnerships with First Nations, that respect their rights, are creating tens of thousands of good-paying jobs and advancing $88 billion in proposed major projects,” said the minister.

“At a time when our country is under attack, we need to come together not divide. Kerry-Lynne Findlay’s plans to tear up DRIPA, fight with First Nations and pit neighbour against neighbour, would lead to massive jobs losses, hurt our health care, environment, communities and lead to economic chaos. Findlay’s destructive plan is yet again playing into the hands of Donald Trump, and would make Canada weaker.”

Bhangu’s petition targets legislation that was put forward by the BC NDP and unanimously adopted by the legislature in November 2019, making B.C. the first jurisdiction in Canada to enshrine the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) into law.

DRIPA became particularly controversial in December 2025, when the B.C. Court of Appeal issued a ruling related to mineral rights that also established that all provincial laws must be interpreted through the lens of the legislation. The decision immediately raised major concerns about the potential effects on B.C.’s economy and business and investor confidence, prompting the BC Conservatives and other critics to call for DRIPA’s immediate repeal.

Shortly after the ruling, Premier David Eby initially agreed that DRIPA should be amended to clarify that responsibility for advancing reconciliation rests with the elected government, rather than the courts. Then, as an alternative to amendments, Eby suggested making some temporary suspensions to key aspects of DRIPA. However, amid growing opposition from First Nations to any changes and/or suspensions, Eby backed away from his commitment in April 2026 to introduce amendments during the spring legislative session. Instead, he said the provincial government would work with First Nations leaders to find a solution addressing the concerns raised by both sides before the legislature returned in Fall 2026.

As of Spring 2026, business leaders in the province continue to overwhelmingly assert that DRIPA is undermining economic certainty, especially with the Eby administration’s highly secretive approach to reconciliation.

Consecutive public surveys over the past year show falling levels of support among B.C. residents for a wide range reconciliation measures and issues, especially after a B.C. judge in August 2025 made a ruling that granted Aboriginal title to the Cowichan Tribes over a large area of private and public lands in southeast Richmond. This has led to much greater public and media attention and scrutiny on other Aboriginal title claims, Crown land transfers, treaties, DRIPA, and other reconciliation-related policies and court rulings.

A survey in early August 2026 showed 59 per cent of B.C. residents now view UNDRIP — the basis of DRIPA — as positive for Canada. However, compared to the similar survey in November 2025, this is a 14 per cent drop in support, and another 25 per cent now consider this to be negative, representing an 11 per cent increase.

Support also declined for the right of Indigenous self-determination, which includes the ability of Indigenous peoples to determine their political status, pursue their economic, cultural and social development and benefit from their natural resources.

The last initiative petition was made in 2021, which failed to gather enough signatures to have the City of Surrey conduct a binding referendum on its policing force.

Bhangu’s application to launch the petition process was submitted in late July 2026. Elections BC was required to determine whether Bhangu’s application met the legal conditions for an initiative petition.

In reaching her decision, based on the provided written explanation, chief electoral officer Shipra Verma considered a recent Alberta Court of King’s Bench ruling involving a proposed constitutional referendum. In that case, the court found that Alberta’s chief electoral officer should not have approved the proposal, partly because the Crown had a constitutional duty to consult affected First Nations.

Verma concluded that the circumstances in B.C. are different. Bhangu’s proposal concerns the repeal of provincial legislation that does not impact protected Indigenous rights under the 1982 Canadian Constitution, while the Alberta proposal involved a constitutional referendum that a court had previously found would fundamentally contravene treaties and the constitution.

If the proposed repeal ultimately creates a duty for the provincial government to consult First Nations, she determined that consultation process could occur later in the legislative process.

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