Latest News

Statement
May 23, 2022

UBCIC Honoured to Attend Tk’emlúps Memorial for Le Estcwicwéy̓; Calls on Canada and Pope for more Action

((Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C. – May 23, 2022) Today Tk’emlúps Te Secwépemc hosts a memorial in commemoration of Le Estcwicwéy̓ – the missing – nearly a year after they first confirmed the finding of 215 First Nations children in an unmarked grave at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School.  

News Release
May 16, 2022

UBCIC Calls for Province to Expand Existing Services for Children and Youth with Special Needs; Pause on Family Connection Centres

((Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C. – May 16, 2022) On May 12, 2022 the Government of British Columbia took an additional step toward dismantling existing services for children with disabilities, including in particular individualized funding for children with autism, when it announced requests for proposals to run new "Family Connection Centres". The Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) rejects British Columbia steamrolling Indigenous families, and all families of children with disabilities by trying to impose a centralized, MCFD-controlled system of services for children with disabilities without proper consultation, co-operation, or consent. 

Statement
May 13, 2022

UBCIC Deeply Disappointed Pope’s Visit Ignores BC First Nations

(Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C. – May 13, 2022) This morning, the Pope announced he will be touring Canada in July with stops in Edmonton, Quebec and Iqaluit.

News Release
May 12, 2022

UBCIC Outraged with VPD’s Quick Dismissal of Chelsea Poorman’s Death, Demands Ongoing Investigation

(Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C. – May 12, 2022) Last week the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) announced that Chelsea Poorman was found dead on April 22^nd, a year and a half after she went missing, stating that “her death is not suspicious.” The Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) stands with Chelsea’s family and demands a full investigation into her tragic death.

News Release
May 11, 2022

UBCIC Strongly Condemns Punitive Sentencing and Criminalization of Tsleil-Waututh Land Defender Will George

(Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C. – May 11, 2022) The Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) has learned of the BC Supreme Court’s sentencing of Tsleil-Waututh Nation land defender Will George to 28 days of incarceration for contempt of court. UBCIC condemns the application of such a sentence in the strongest possible terms. The injunction granted to Trans Mountain Pipeline ULC (Trans Mountain) concerns areas which the Tsleil-Waututh Nation has never ceded, released, or surrendered to the Crown, and activities that the Nation has not provided their free, prior, and informed consent for Trans Mountain to carry out within their territory.

News Release
May 5, 2022

UBCIC Applauds Settlement Between Maxwell Johnson and BMO; Launches Review of Discrimination against First Nations in BC when using Status Cards

(Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil Waututh)/ Vancouver, B.C. – May 5, 2022) The Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) joins the Heiltsuk Nation and applauds the settlement announced today between Maxwell Johnson and his 14-year-old granddaughter and the Bank of Montreal. BMO staff called Vancouver Police on Maxwell and his granddaughter when Maxwell went to make a deposit, leading to them being handcuffed, detailed and humiliated.  Mr. Johnson and his granddaughter’s complaint against the Vancouver Police Department at the BC Human Rights Tribunal remains ongoing. 

News Release
May 5, 2022

National Day of Awareness for MMIWG2S+ Casts Light on Intersections between Gender-Based Violence and Human-Caused Climate Crisis

((Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C. – May 5^th, 2022). The Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) marks the National Day of Awareness for MMIWG2S+ with a call to BC and Canada to uphold the sacred role of Indigenous women, girls and Two-Spirit+ people and end colonial violence enmeshed in extractive industries fueling the climate crisis and gender-based violence.

News Release
May 2, 2022

UBCIC Statement of Condolence on the Passing of Philomena (Phyllis) Joseph

((Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C. – May 2, 2022) It is with shock and profound sadness that the Union of BC Indian Chiefs Executive has learned of the passing of Philomena Joseph on April 27^th at the age of 66. A former receptionist at the UBCIC, Phyllis, as she was known to family, her many friends, and colleagues, was a remarkable person whose warmth, kindness, and humour elevated the spirits of everyone who had the good fortune to be in her company.