Public Land Use Society Says Court Ruling Demonstrates DRIPA Must Be Repealed

In a split decision released December 5, the Court of Appeal ruled in Gitxaala Nation v. British Columbia (Chief Gold (Goldkurs) Commissioner), 2023 BCSC 1680 that provincial laws are now open to legal challenge if they are not aligned with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). As UNDRIP was never intended to operate as binding domestic law, PLUS joins numerous business groups, elected officials, Aboriginal law experts, and community organizations saying the government should recall the legislature to repeal DRIPA.

"This decision proves that the government either misunderstood its own legislation or misled the public about its consequences," said Warren Mirko, Executive Director of PLUS. "British Columbians were repeatedly told DRIPA would not override existing laws, would not affect third-party rights, and would not shift decision-making power to the courts. All three claims have now collapsed."

PLUS is calling on the Government of British Columbia to immediately:

• Repeal DRIPA in full;
• Reaffirm Section 35 of the Constitution as the legal foundation for Aboriginal rights;
• Restore transparent, lawful, and inclusive decision-making over Crown land; and
• Ensure Indigenous and non-Indigenous rights are balanced fairly in the public interest.

PLUS has argued across dozens of media publications and engagements throughout 2025 that, far from advancing reconciliation, DRIPA deepens social division, undermines democratic accountability, and erodes confidence in the rule of law by bypassing established constitutional safeguards and public process.

"The government brushed aside legitimate concerns and now seeks to amend a law it insisted posed no risk," said Mirko. "DRIPA is in direct conflict with Canada's constitutional framework, and British Columbia cannot afford to maintain a law that brings litigation and uncertainty to 95 percent of the land base. DRIPA has failed and must be repealed in the public interest."

Since its passage, DRIPA has been used to justify government-to-government agreements that exclude affected communities, diminish third-party rights, and remove major land-use decisions from public scrutiny. The result has been growing resentment, declining investor confidence, and legal conflict from project proponents, community groups, and First Nations.

About Public Land Use Society
Public Land Use Society (PLUS) is a provincial non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring decisions about British Columbia's land are transparent, lawful, and made in the public interest. These decisions shape homes, businesses, and communities across the province. PLUS supports a balanced approach to managing Crown land that safeguards public access, ensures British Columbians have a meaningful say in decisions affecting these lands, and requires that any authority beyond the B.C. government has a clear and transparent legal basis under Canadian law.

Learn more at publiclanduse.ca.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/278293