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To: Leaders of BC political parties

Green: Sonia Furstenau
Liberal: Andrew Wilkinson, Paul Barbeau
New Democratic: John Horgan, Craig Keating 

October 14, 2020

OPEN LETTER: Call for a BC Action Plan on MMIWG2S

Dear Leaders,

We, members of the Coalition on Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls in BC (the Coalition), are writing to express grave concern and disappointment that no political party’s released platform includes a plan to implement the Calls for Justice of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. With less than three weeks until voting day in BC, residents in this province are extremely concerned that the safety and security of Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people is not a priority when it is literally a matter of life and death.

News Release
September 30, 2020

Catastrophic Decline in Pacific Salmon will be Hastened by DFO Fish Farm Decision that Flouts Critical Cohen Recommendation

((Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C. – September 30, 2020) The Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) is appalled and gravely concerned over the Department of Fisheries and Oceans’ (DFO) decision regarding recommendation no.19 from the Cohen Commission. This recommendation set a deadline for September 30, 2020, for the federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans to prohibit net-pen farming in the Discovery Islands and address the risk farms like these pose to the health of migrating Fraser River Sockeye salmon. However, on September 28, 2020, the Minister made bleaker the future of our salmon; based on scientific assessments of nine pathogens associated with fish farms, the Minister concluded that open-net pen farms in the Discovery Islands pose a minimal risk to wild salmon.

News Release
September 29, 2020

Death of Youth in Care Sparks Calls by First Nations Leadership and Advocates for Immediate Action

((Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səl̓ilwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C. – Date) Regional and national Indigenous organizations are calling for immediate action and accountability in B.C. over the death of a First Nation youth in a group home.

UBCIC 52^ND ANNUAL GENERAL ASSEMBLY (VIRTUAL)

Watch live here

Welcome to UBCIC's first fully virtual AGA. Observers are welcome to watch when we are not in camera, and can find our agenda  here

Statement

September 18, 2020

UBCIC Stands in Solidarity with the Mi’kmaq and Condemns Reprehensible, Unlawful Acts of Violence and Hostility against Mi’kmaq Fishers

((Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh)/ Vancouver, B.C. – September 18, 2020) The Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) strongly denounces the ongoing attempts by non-Indigenous fisherman to intimidate, threaten, and prevent Mi’kmaq fisher men and women from exercising their unextinguished and constitutionally affirmed fishing rights. These actions represent a serious and critical threat not only to the Mi’kmaq Nation’s welfare and safety, but to the collective treaty rights and sovereignty of First Nations across the country

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Delegation Appearing at Vancouver Police Board to Demand Ban on Police Street Checks; Over Ninety Organizations Call for Street Check Ban

September 17, 2020, (Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C – A coalition of organizations are appearing remotely as a Delegation at the Vancouver Police Board meeting on September 17 at 1 pm.

News Release

September 15, 2020

The First Nations Leadership Council mourns the passing of Ronald “Bud” Sparrow, Indigenous rights defendant

(Xʷməθkʷəy̓ əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱ wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C.) The First Nations Leadership Council (FNLC) is mourning the loss of Ronald Sparrow of Musqueam First Nation and sends condolences to family and community members. As a commercial fisherman, he took the lead in the struggle for Indigenous fishing rights and the dismantling of the increasingly restrictive regulatory DFO framework favouring commercial fisheries in British Columbia. Mr. Sparrow won a landmark ruling (R v Sparrow) thirty years ago (1990) in the Supreme Court of Canada. The highest court in the land recognized existing Indigenous rights to fish for food and ceremonial purposes ahead of other user groups. Since then this ruling has reverberated throughout the judicial system as First Nations continue to battle for and obtain recognition for Indigenous rights, treaty rights and title.

News Release

September 11, 2020

Wave of COVID-19 is Hitting Vancouver’s DTES:
Residents Encouraged to Take Precautions; UBCIC Welcomes Urgent, Transparent Action from VCH

((Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh)/ Vancouver, B.C. – September 11, 2020) The Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) has learned that there are confirmed cases of COVID-19 throughout Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES) among residents and front line staff, with multiple cases in some locations. UBCIC is calling on all residents of the DTES, neighbours and staff, to take heightened safety precautions and get tested if they are presenting any symptoms of COVID, while ensuring that existing services continue to be used. To halt what could be a disastrous and fatal outbreak, UBCIC is seeking an updated urgent, public, comprehensive action plan from Vancouver Coastal Health and the Province, that will target and protect the DTES’ vulnerable populations, especially Indigenous peoples.