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(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, B.C. – June 25, 2015) The Union of BC Indian Chiefs is proud to congratulate Chief Shane Gottfriedson, Tk’emlups te Secwepemc, on his successful election to the position of Regional Chief of the BC Assembly of First Nations (BCAFN). BC First Nations Chiefs met today at the 12th BCAFN Annual General Meeting, and elected Chief Gottfriedson on the first ballot, with a majority of the votes cast.

Coast Salish Territory (Vancouver, BC) – Today Justice Murray Sinclair provided the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) Final Report, “Honoring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future”, during the TRC closing events in Ottawa. The TRC concluded a five-year mandate to create awareness about and document the history and on-going legacy of the Indian residential school system as well as guide and inspire a process of truth, healing, and reconciliation. The First Nations Leadership Council provided the following comments on reconciliation and the closing of the TRC:

(Coast Salish Territory June 1, 2015)  The Union of BC Indian Chiefs has obtained records from an Access to Information (ATIP) request which indicate that, contrary to law, a Senior Federal Bureaucrat may have ordered the destruction of records relating to First Nations land claims.    The ATIP request pertained to records relating to Canada’s “expedited legal review process” of specific claims. This is a unilateral internal process that determines whether claims filed by a First Nation to the Federal Government will receive a comprehensive or an accelerated legal review and ultimately, whether they will be properly negotiated.

(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, B.C. – May 20, 2015) As of September 30, 2015 the First Nations Social Development Society (FNSDS) will no longer have funding to support essential social programs for on-reserve social assistance programs.  

(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, B.C. – May 14, 2015) – The BC Assembly of First Nations, First Nations Summit and Union of BC Indian Chiefs fully support the findings of the Representative for Children and Youth, Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond’s report Paige’s Story: Abuse, Indifference and a Young Life Discarded.

Adam E. Thompson, Committee Clerk
National Security and Defence Senate Committee
Senate of Canada
Tel: 1-613-990-6160
Fax: 1-613-947-2104

RE: UBCIC OPEN LETTER REGARDING BILL C-51: ANTI-TERRORISM ACT, 2015

Dear National Security and Defence Senate Committee,

We are writing to inform you of our deep concerns regarding Bill C-51 Anti-terrorism Act, 2015. The Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) is an Indigenous political advocacy organization representing over 100 First Nations in British Columbia and we stand strongly in opposition to Bill C-51. The proposed Bill completely sweeps aside and fundamentally undermines our rights as Indigenous Peoples to exercise, assert and defend our inherent Aboriginal Title, Rights and Treaty Rights. Let us remind you, these inherent rights are judicially and constitutionally recognized and Bill C-51 completely disregards the Canadian Constitution Act and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

April 22, 2015

Dear Minister Valcourt,

The First Nations Social Development Society (FNSDS) and the Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) are writing to request that you investigate and intervene in the decision by AANDC-BC to cease support for Persons with Disability on Reserve and support for on-reserve income assistance support for all 203 First Nations in BC. FNSDS has been providing these vital services to First Nations communities for over 10 years. Further, we are writing to request that you immediately reinstate and enhance all service funding to FNSDS along with new provisions which allow FNSDS to have secured funding for the next 2 years.

(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, B.C. – April 21, 2015)  The Union of BC Indian Chiefs is deeply honoured to congratulate Xeni Gwet’in Councillor Marilyn Baptiste, in winning the 2015 Goldman Environmental Prize for her leadership in defeating one of the largest proposed gold and copper mines in British Columbia which would have destroyed Teztan Biny (Fish Lake), a source of spiritual rejuvenation, identity and livelihood for the Xeni Gwet’in.