UBCIC Condemns Verdict in Jon Styres Murder Trial
(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, B.C. – June 28, 2018) The Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) is shocked and outraged that on June 27th, 2018, 28-year-old Peter Khill, a settler living in Hamilton, Ontario, was found not guilty in the murder of Jonathan Styres, a 29-year-old man from Ohsweken, Ontario, part of the Six Nations reserve.
Read moreFNLC Supports Broughton Area LoU re. Fish Farms
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FNLC Supports Broughton Area LoU re. Fish Farms
(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver – June 28, 2018) The First Nation Leadership Council (FNLC) applauds the Broughton Area Letter of Understanding (LoU), signed yesterday between the Kwikwasut’inuxw Haxwa’mis, Namgis and Mamalilikulla First Nations and BC.
OPEN LETTER: UBCIC Condemns Child Detention and Family Separation
June 25, 2018
OPEN LETTER: UBCIC Condemns Child Detention and Family Separation
Dear President Trump and Prime Minister Trudeau,
We are writing on behalf of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs (UBCIC). Based in British Columbia, Canada we are an advocacy organization founded in 1969, advancing Indigenous Title and Rights and Treaty Rights on behalf of Indigenous peoples, mandated by our member Nations.
Read moreUBCIC Denounces Reprehensible Report on Specific Claims
(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, B.C. – June 25, 2018) UBCIC condemns the report on specific claims released on National Indigenous Peoples Day by conservative think tank the Fraser Institute.
In his report, Specific Claims and the Well-Being of First Nations, author Tom Flanagan argues that the federal specific claims program should be discontinued since, he asserts, settlements result in no tangible benefits to First Nations communities. Flanagan's report characterizes specific claims as a never-ending drain on the federal budget and Canadian taxpayers, and contends that Indigenous Nations manipulate facts and exploit case law to validate their claims.
Read moreBC’s Fresh Catch: Updating BC’s Salmon Farm Policy
(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, B.C. – June 20, 2018) The UBCIC applauds today’s announcement as an initial step on the pathway to preserve and safeguard the future of wild salmon consistent with the rights, cultural practices and economic livelihoods of many First Nations throughout BC.
Read moreUBCIC & BCCLA REACT: Supreme Court rules Corrections breached obligation to Indigenous prisoners
OTTAWA – Today, June 13, 2018, the Supreme Court of Canada released its decision in Ewert v. Canada, a case challenging the use of prisoner risk assessment tests that can be culturally biased against Indigenous prisoners.
The Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) and BC Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) co-intervened to ask the Court to require, for the first time within prison walls, that decision-makers follow the Gladue framework by taking into account the unique circumstances of Indigenous people that come into contact with the criminal justice system.
Read moreNational inquiry six-month extension “too little, too late,” say coalition members
(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, BC - June 7, 2018) – Members of the BC Coalition on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (the coalition) are deeply disappointed that Canada has granted only a six-month extension to the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (the inquiry). Many Indigenous, civil society, and front-line service organizations supported the inquiry’s request for a two-year extension, to allow it to heed calls from the grassroots to reorganize its work and hold in-depth and meaningful institutional and regional hearings.
Read moreB.C Cabinet and First Nations Leaders' Gathering
In Partnership, the Province of British Columbia and the First Nations Leadership Council, have reserved November 29-39, 2018 to hold the 4th annual B.C Cabinet and First Nations Leaders' Gathering in Vancouver at the Vancouver Convention Centre.
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