Robert Phillips speaks during a news conference for an announcement of funding to Indigenous led conservation in B.C. at the 2023 B.C. Cabinet and First Nations Leaders’ Gathering in Vancouver, on Friday, Nov. 3, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns

By The Canadian Press

First Nation leader Robert Phillips says proposed DRIPA changes would gut legislation

Mar 31, 2026 | 3:03 PM

VICTORIA — A First Nations leader says proposed amendments to British Columbia’s Declaration on the Indigenous Peoples Act would take a “sledgehammer” to the landmark legislation.

Robert Phillips of the First Nations Summit says the amendments would “gut” DRIPA and turn back the clock on relations between the provincial government and First Nations by decades.

Phillips’ warning comes before Thursday’s meeting between First Nations leaders and Premier David Eby, who says the changes are necessary to put MLAs, not the courts, in charge of reconciliation.

The Canadian Press has obtained a copy of the proposed changes, and while Phillips says a non-disclosure agreement prevents him from commenting on specific amendments, he says First Nations are considering litigation and streets protests if the changes go ahead.

It is not clear yet when legislators will see the amendments, but Phillips says Indigenous MLAs in the legislature will face their own “Elijah Harper moment.”

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Harper was the late Indigenous politician whose vote in the Manitoba legislature in 1990 was instrumental in the failure of the Meech Lake accord, a package of proposed constitutional amendments.

Phillips says First Nations do not want to cause an election, but the future of DRIPA is a “defining moment” in the history of British Columbia, and he hopes Eby will pull back from his plans.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 31, 2026.

Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press