Latest News

Statement
August 2, 2022

UBCIC Statement on Pope’s Apology for Residential Schools

(xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C. – August 2, 2022) The Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) monitored Pope Francis’s long-awaited visit to Turtle Island last week to apologize for the Catholic Church’s role in Residential Schools. On a departing flight, the Pope spoke to a reporter and finally agreed that the abuses Indigenous peoples endured amounted to genocide; he failed to renounce the Doctrine of Discovery.

News Release
July 28, 2022

Crisis in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside; UBCIC Calls on City of Vancouver to Uphold Safety and Human Dignity

(xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C. – July 28, 2022) Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES) residents, including a disproportionately high number of Indigenous peoples, are facing mounting perils owing to a blatant lack of secure housing, unsafe shelter options during extreme heat events, and unrelenting gender-based violence.

News Release 
July 27, 2022

Riley Robert Saunders Sentenced to 5 Years for Defrauding Vulnerable, Primarily First Nations, Youth

(xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C.) The First Nations Leadership Council (FNLC) takes no comfort in the sentencing of former Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) employee Robert Riley Saunders who stole, lied, and manipulated high-risk First Nations children and youth out of their funds for survival while under his care.

News Release
July 19, 2022

Williams Lake First Nation and UBCIC Call for Public Inquiry into Role of RCMP in First Nation Father’s Death

(xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil Waututh)/ Vancouver, B.C. – July 19, 2022) On Sunday July 10th, 2022, a Williams Lake First Nation (WLFN) father of four died after a distress call was made by his family to the police. WLFN and the Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) are demanding an independent investigation and public inquiry into the handling of the RCMP response to the distress call that resulted in an Indigenous man’s death.

Statement
July 12, 2022

UBCIC Remembers Elder Kat Zu’comulwat Norris, Lifelong Champion for Indigenous Peoples

((Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C. – July 12, 2022) With fond memories and heavy hearts the Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) marks the passing of Elder Kat Zu’comulwat Norris of Lyackson First Nation, and honours her legacy of advocacy for Indigenous Rights.  

July 12, 2022

Open Letter: UBCIC Chiefs Council Calls for Protection of Pacific Wild Salmon Habitat

Dear Minister Joyce Murray and Minister Josie Osborne,

In BC the current state of wild salmon and wild salmon habitat is in absolute crisis. The viability of pacific wild salmon stocks and their full life-cycle habitat in British Columbia are increasingly degraded from the confluence of climate change impacts, ineffective fisheries conservation, pollution and habitat destruction from industrial natural resource exploitation and salmon aquaculture. Wild salmon runs in British Columbia, many of which have been identified as threatened, endangered and species of special concern, rely on the health and ecological integrity of their habitat across their seasonal migrations and lifecycles.

News Release

June 22, 2022

UBCIC Welcomes Announcement that Canada is Phasing Out Fish Farms in Discovery Islands

(Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil Waututh)/ Vancouver, B.C. – June 22, 2022) Today, Federal Minister Joyce Murray of Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard announced a transition planning process for fish farms in British Columbia. This will include consultations with First Nations Title and Rights holders and with industry. The Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) welcomes this announcement and calls for this process to be a concrete step towards the complete removal of fish farms from BC oceans.

Statement
June 21, 2022

Struggles Continue on National Indigenous Peoples Day; UBCIC Calls for Increased Justice, Transparency and Ethics

(Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C. – June 21, 2022) Today, on National Indigenous Peoples Day, the Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) reflects on a range of critical issues facing First Nations as we demand systemic change. UBCIC calls for decisive forward action on implementation of the federal United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act and the provincial Declaration Act, tangible and concrete action on the MMIWG Calls for Justice, the jointly developed repatriation of internees of unmarked graves to their home communities, and substantial climate crisis investments to First Nations.