Latest News

News Release 
September 7, 2023

FNLC Statement on the Failures of MCFD in Permanency Planning Obligations to Youth in Care 

(xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C.) This week B.C. Ombudsperson Jay Chalke released a report titled “MISINFORMED: How the Ministry of Children and Family Development failed in its permanency planning obligations to a youth in care.”

News Release
August 31, 2023

UBCIC Stands with Families and Calls for Action on Overdose Awareness Day

(xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil Waututh)/ Vancouver, B.C. – August 31, 2023) Today, UBCIC grieves with thousands of families devastated by the overdose crisis and urges municipal, provincial, and federal governments to put aside their lethal political squabbling and take urgent, comprehensive, and coordinated action to save lives and support First Nations self-determination over their health and well-being.

News Release 
August 28, 2023

BCFNEMC and FNLC Call for Moratorium on Placer Mining in British Columbia

(xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C.) The BC First Nations Energy and Mining Council (BCFNEMC) and the First Nations Leadership Council (FNLC) urgently call on the British Columbia government to immediately impose a moratorium on placer mining claims and leases as highlighted in a recently released report prepared for the FNEMC. The report titled, “The Need for a Moratorium on Placer Mining Claims and Leases,” is critical of the outdated and inadequately regulated placer mining system, emphasizing the substantial adverse effects on the environment, First Nations’ rights and the well-being of communities.

News Release
August 28, 2023

UBCIC Calls on Meta and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to Reverse Social Media News Ban

(xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil Waututh)/ Vancouver, B.C. – August 28, 2023) As wildfires rage across BC, the Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) is joining the calls for Meta to reinstate news on its social media platforms and cease using innocent lives as a corporate strategy to evade regulation, and calling on Canada to amend Bill C-18 to ensure that news stifling cannot happen by mega corporations.

News Release: Indigenous organizations and legal aid clinic rebuke Canada for mass incarceration of Indigenous people, call for redirection of funding to Indigenous governments and organizations as part of Canada’s human rights review by the United Nations

Geneva, August 28, 2023 – Today, Dene lawyer Jennifer Duncan is in Geneva leading up to Canada’s 4^th Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Pre-Session to draw international attention to Canada’s continued mass incarceration of Indigenous people. Jennifer Duncan is voicing the calls of the BC First Nations Justice Council (BCFNJC), the BC Assembly of First Nations (BCAFN), the Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) and Prisoners’ Legal Services (PLS) for an end to the mass incarceration of Indigenous people as part of the United Nations’ review of Canada’s human rights record.  

News Release
August 17, 2023

UBCIC Calls for Urgent Climate Action as Wildfire Crisis Grows in NWT, BC, and Hawaii

(xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil Waututh)/ Vancouver, B.C. – August 17, 2023) The entire city of Yellowknife is under evacuation orders, and wildfire damage has destroyed the towns of Enterprise in the Northwest Territories (NWT) and Lahaina in Hawaii. Thousands of people have been displaced, and there have been at least 111 deaths in Lahaina. The Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) calls on all governments to protect our lands, our peoples, and our future generations from further harm from the impacts of the climate crisis and recognize that drastically reducing emissions that are the major drivers of climate change such as fossil fuel extraction, must be prioritized.

Kwikwasut’inuxw Haxwa’mis First Nation ‘Namgis First Nation
St’át’imc Chiefs Council
Stó꞉lō Tribal Council
Musqueam Indian Band
Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs

August 16, 2023

First Nations Coalition Supports Minister’s Decision to  Close Open Net-Pen Fish Farms in the Discovery Islands

(xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil Waututh) /Vancouver, B.C.) — The Kwikwasut’inuxw Haxwa’mis First Nation, ‘Namgis First Nation, St’át’imc Chiefs Council, Stó꞉lō Tribal Council, Musqueam Indian Band, and the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs (together the “First Nations Coalition”) have jointly applied together to the Federal Court for leave to intervene in a critical case for the survival of the Fraser River wild salmon and the closure of open net-pen fish farms in the Discovery Islands area of BC.

August 14, 2023

OPEN LETTER: Support for the CRCC Review of the C-IRG and Call to Immediately Disband the C-IRG

Dear Michelaine Lahaie, Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald, Minister Farnworth, and Minister Mendicino,

We are writing with respect to Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) Resolution 2023-23 “Support for the CRCC Review of the C-IRG and Call to Immediately Disband the C-IRG” which was presented, affirmed, and endorsed unanimously at the UBCIC Chiefs Council on June 8, 2023 (enclosure).