Latest News

News Release
January 24, 2023

UBCIC Stands with Day Scholar Survivors and Acknowledges Major Settlement Negotiated Regarding Harms of Indian Residental Schools on Culture and Nations

(xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C. – January 24, 2023) the Government of Canada announced Saturday the $2.8 billion dollar settlement of a class-action lawsuit brought forward by Shíshálh and Tk’emlúps te Secwe̓pemc Nations on behalf of Day Scholars who attended Indian Residential Schools as the band-class plaintiffs seeking reparations for the loss of language and culture. The decision to approve the settlement, which is to be administered independently of the federal government in a 20 year not-for-profit trust, remains before the court.

News Release
January 23, 2023

UBCIC Supports Call to Stop Work on Coastal GasLink Pipeline and Protect Salmon Spawning Habitat

((Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C. – January 23, 2023) The Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) supports Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs in their call for the federal government to issue a stop-work order on construction of the Coastal GasLink Pipeline. The pipeline construction activities are being undertaken without adequate sediment control on the Lho Kwa, jeopardizing crucial salmon spawning habitat. This follows an emerging pattern of repeated non-compliance with the project’s permit and numerous enforcement orders issued by the BC Environmental Assessment Office.

Statement
January 20, 2023

UBCIC Condemns Racist Denial of Status Cards by Business

(xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C. – January 20, 2023) The Union of BC Indian Chiefs is deeply concerned by news reports of signage denying the “suitability” of Certificate of Indian Status Cards, which are federally issued government ID, as identification posted at the Quarterdeck Beer and Wine Store in Port Hardy. Such policy is discriminatory, anti-reconciliation, and a clear violation of the human rights of Indigenous people.

For Immediate Release, January 10, 2023:

160+ organizations call on BC to follow through on old-growth commitments

Groups announce Feb. 25 rally at provincial legislature, issue declaration calling on the province to accelerate action for threatened forests

UNCEDED LEKWUNGEN TERRITORIES/VICTORIA – 168 organizations across British Columbia have issued a declaration called United We Stand for Old-Growth Forests, calling on Premier David Eby and his government to fulfill their commitments on old-growth. 

News Release 

December 19, 2022

FNLC Critical of the Continued Marginalization of Indigenous Peoples at COP15

(xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C.) As the fifteenth Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the Convention on Biological Diversity wraps up on Kanien'kehá:ka territory in Montreal, the First Nations Leadership Council recognizes the significant and outsized contributions of Indigenous peoples across the globe in protecting the biodiversity within their territories and assert that Indigenous peoples must be equal partners at any table discussing and making decisions about management of their territories.

News Release

November 23, 2022

While DFO and BC Delay, all West Coast US States Take Action and Ban Open Net-Pen Fish Farms

(xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C. – November 23, 2022) On November 18, 2022, Washington State joined California, Oregon, and Alaska in banning open net-pen fish farming, an act that makes BC the backwards outlier of the west coast by denying science and prioritizing the fish farm industry over the survival of wild salmon. UBCIC calls on the federal and provincial governments to take immediate action to ban open net-pens and only allow land-based closed containment farms.

News Release
November 22, 2022

UBCIC Seeks Answers in Tragic Death of Indigenous Man in Custody in BC

(xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C. – November 22, 2022) The Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) was devastated to learn about the horrific death of Kendal Campeau, 31, of Yellow Quill First Nation at the Pacific Institution in Abbotsford, BC on November 14, 2021.

Press Release
November 17, 2022

UBCIC Marks Premier John Horgan’s Five Years of Leadership, Renews Calls to NDP Government

(xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C. – November 17, 2022) On Honourable John Horgan’s last day as Premier of BC, the Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) acknowledges his leadership and looks to the BC NDP and premier-designate David Eby to carry forward the work of reconciliation and full recognition of Indigenous Title and Rights.