Latest News

UBCIC and Heiltsuk Nation Announce Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond to Intervene in BC Human Rights Case Against Vancouver Police Department Over Racial Profiling and Wrongful Detainment

Indigenous leaders release security camera footage of detainment and reject VPD’s “colour-blind” statement of defence.

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA (June 16, 2021) – The Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) and Heiltsuk Nation announced today that Dr. Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, former judge and Senior Associate Counsel with Woodward & Company, will be applying to intervene on behalf of UBCIC in an ongoing BC human rights case against the VPD for the wrongful detainment of Maxwell Johnson and his granddaughter, outside a bank in Vancouver in December of 2019.

News Release
June 14, 2021

Homeless Evictions in Prince George Must Stop; Supportive Plan Urgently Needed

(Prince George, Lheidli Tenn’eh Territory) The First Nations Leadership Council is calling on the City of Prince George to collaborate with local First Nations organizations and other service providers to immediately develop a workable plan to address homelessness in the city. City Hall distributed notices of eviction to residents of a tent city occupying a vacant lot downtown today, demanding those occupying the site vacate by June 25th, but give no supports for relocation or alternative spaces to live.

News Release
June 11, 2021

No Space for Another Missed Opportunity: FNLC Response to Skye’s Story

(Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C.) The First Nations Leadership Council is urging all levels of government to recognize the truth shared through “Skye’s Legacy: A focus on belonging”, the most recent report of the Representative for Children and Youth (“RCY”), and to take immediate steps to support First Nations in bringing our children home – where they belong.

Statement
June 8, 2021

UBCIC Stands with Muslim Canadians in the Wake of Terrorist Attack and Islamophobic Murder of Ontario Family

((Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C. – June 8, 2021) The Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) is devastated and angered over the Islamophobic terrorist attack on June 6, 2021, that killed four members of a Muslim Pakistani family in London, Ontario and left the only survivor, a nine-year-old boy, in hospital with serious injuries. UBCIC cannot fathom the immense grief, shock, and fear the family’s community and loved ones must be going through, and we extend our most heartfelt condolences to the London Muslim community and all who knew the family.

News Release
June 7, 2021

FNLC Outraged with Crown’s Decision that No Criminal Charges be Laid Against Police Officer Who Fatally Shot Chantel Moore

(Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C.) The First Nations Leadership Council (FNLC) is deeply disappointed and disturbed by the Crown’s ruling that no criminal charges be laid against the Edmundston Police Force Officer who fatally shot Chantel Moore, a 26-year-old mother and member of the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation, five times during a wellness check in her apartment on June 4, 2020.

June 4, 2021

RE: Private Archives hosted by British Columbia

Dear Premier Horgan,
In 2011, the Province of British Columbia entered into an agreement with the Sisters of St. Ann to hold their archives in the British Columbia Provincial Archives. These materials are not held in any other collection in Canada, including the Library and Archives of Canada. The agreement entered into between the Sisters of St. Ann and the British Columbia Government has never been shared with First Nations affected, and it is not public.

MEDIA RELEASE:
For Immediate Release: June 3, 2021

National Action Plan and Federal Pathway Will Not End Genocide of Indigenous Women and Girls

Ottawa, ON – The National Action Plan and Federal Pathway on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls is not an adequate response to the crisis of murders and disappearances, and the ongoing genocide against Indigenous women and girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people that was identified by the National Inquiry. This is the conclusion of a number of Indigenous women experts, grassroots groups and organizations who work with Indigenous families, survivors and communities. They have grave concerns about the immediate health, safety and well-being of Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people.

News Release
June 3, 2021

Aspiration Not Enough to End Genocide: UBCIC Demands Government Action and Accountability for Crisis of MMIWG 

((Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh)/ Vancouver, B.C. – June 3, 2021) The federal government has released a National Action ‘Plan’ on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) that falls painfully short of addressing the culture of genocide that has been created and upheld through their own colonial policies, laws, and systems that perpetuate this violence. The Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) is appalled by the lack of a plan within this document and calls for the development of an Indigenous women led Action Plan with clear timelines, commitments and actions that encompass all levels of government across Canada to end genocide now.