VICTORIA, B.C. – Today, the BC NDP announced the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (Declaration Act) Action Plan, three years after the Act was passed into law.
“I raise my hands to the Indigenous leaders and community members who shaped this Action Plan,” said Adam Olsen, MLA for Saanich North and the Islands and a member of Tsartlip First Nation. “While the framing of the Action Plan is fine, the metric for success is not what we hear, but what we see. 28 months after the Declaration Act was unanimously passed in the Legislature, this government is only just moving forward.
“This plan outlines goals for reconciliation, but not the metrics for achieving them. Already the Action Plan lays the groundwork for excuse making. Will the actions in the plan meet the objectives of the UN Declaration? Self-determination, self-government, title, rights, ending Indigenous-specific racism and discrimination, and improving the social, cultural and economic well-being of Indigenous peoples. I sincerely hope that this government will not use the Action Plan as a shield from meaningful steps towards Indigenous self-determination, as they have used the Declaration Act.”
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JoJo Beattie
Press Secretary
B.C. Green Caucus
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