On November 28, 2019, through the Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples Act
("DRIPA"), British Columbia
formally adopted the standards outlined in the United Nations
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
("UNDRIP").
Section 4 of DRIPA mandates British
Columbia "prepare and implement an action plan to achieve the
objectives of [UNDRIP]."
On March 30, 2022, British Columbia announced the
DRIPA
Action Plan (the "Action
Plan"), which purports to define how, from 2022 to
2027, British Columbia will implement UNDRIP.
This is headline news. Prior to the targeted engagement that led
to the development of the Action Plan, there were decades of
unremitting work undertaken by advocates, leaders, matriarchs,
patriarchs, lawyers, political leaders, and the unnamed persons
upon whose shoulders the Action Plan stands. The Action Plan itself
represents the culmination of countless meetings, round tables,
collaborations, submissions, stalemates, and
