News Release
June 3, 2019

National Inquiry into MMIWG Report Release: We Demand Immediate Action from Canada

(Algonquin Territory/Gatineau, QC – June 3, 2019) - Violence against Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirit people continues to devastate families and communities across Turtle Island. Today, as the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls releases its final report, the Coalition on MMIWG2S in BC calls on the federal and provincial governments to take immediate action in implementing the recommendations of this report.

May 10, 2019

Ms. Michelle Bachelet Jeria
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
Palais Wilson
52 rue des Pâquis
CH-1201 Geneva, Switzerland
Via Email: [email protected]

Open Letter: UBCIC Condemns the Reprehensible Persecution of Margot Pérez and All Forms of Violence and Intimidation Against Indigenous Peoples in El Salvador

Dear Ms. Michelle Bachelet Jeria:

The Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) stands in solidarity with the Indigenous Peoples of El Salvador who share with the First Nations of Canada a history of invasion, colonization, and cultural genocide. It is in this solidarity and the commitment to justice that UBCIC writes to you regarding the shameful persecution of Margot Pérez – a persecution that has resulted in the brutal murder of her brother-in-law and the continued reign of coercion and threats against Indigenous Peoples in El Salvador.

Open Letter to Minister Carolyn Bennett
Canada’s Inaction on Late Specific Claims Assessments

May 2, 2019

Dear Minister Bennett,

We write today to present a follow-up report prepared by the BC Specific Claims Working Group (BCSCWG) on your government’s inaction on late specific claims assessments. In November 2018, the BCSCWG brought to your attention your department’s failure to meet its legislated timelines to assess specific claims and communicate effectively with Indigenous Nations. We urged you to take immediate, transparent action on the report’s recommendations and you have not done so. We reiterate our call to address the backlog of claims by implementing the recommendations put forward by the BCSCWG in both reports.

News Release
May 1, 2019

UBCIC & Wet’suwet’en to the UN:
Our Rights Cannot Be Compromised

(Lenape Territory/NYC, NY – May 1, 2019) Indigenous peoples gathered from around the globe at the United Nations headquarters in New York City for the 18th Session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) to discuss issues pertaining to the recognition of their internationally recognized human rights, particularly their rights to languages, traditional knowledge and self-determination.

March 18, 2019

The Honorable George Heyman

Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy
PO Box 9047, Station Prov Gov
Victoria, BC V8W 9E2

Via Email: [email protected]

The Honorable Michelle Mungall
Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources
PO Box 9060, Station Prov Gov
Victoria, BC, V8W 9E2
Via Email: [email protected]

Open Letter: UBCIC Urges BC to Address the Risks Orphan Gas and Oil Wells Pose to the Environment and Welfare of Citizens and First Nations

Dear Minister Heyman and Minister Mungall,

In light of Auditor General’s Report on The BC Oil and Gas Commission’s Management of Non-Operating Oil and Gas Sites, it has become apparent that the burgeoning oil and gas industry in this province continues to pose unacceptable risks to the environment and the well-being of British Columbian residents, including First Nations Peoples.

March 18, 2019
Senators of Canada
The Senate of Canada
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A4

OPEN LETTER RE: Support for the Immediate Passing of Bill C-262

Dear Senators,

The First Nations Leadership Council (FNLC) is calling on each Senator of Canada to support the passage of Bill C-262, An Act to ensure that the laws of Canada are in harmony with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, without delay.

March 14, 2019

Senators of Canada
The Senate of Canada
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A4

OPEN LETTER RE. Support for the Immediate Passing of Bill C-262

Dear Senators,

The Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) is calling on each Senator of Canada to pass Bill C-262, An Act to ensure that the laws of Canada are in harmony with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, without delay.

News Release
March 12, 2019

UBCIC Demands Fair, Equal Compensation for Day Scholars

(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, B.C. – March 12, 2019) A legacy of trauma and devastation inflicted upon Indigenous culture and language continues to be brushed aside by the Canadian government in its refusal to treat Day School survivors on terms equal to other Indian Residential School survivors. Day Scholars attended federally owned and operated Residential Schools during the day and returned home at night, and it is Canada’s obligation and duty, as outlined in Article 8.2 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, to provide redress for “any form of forced assimilation or integration” and any actions that deprived Indigenous people of their cultural values or ethnic identities.

PRESS STATEMENT

 UBCIC Condemns Minister Bennett’s False Statements Regarding the “Joint Development” of a New Specific Claims Process   

(Coast Salish Territory – Vancouver, BC – December 4, 2018)

The Union of BC Indian Chiefs unequivocally denounces the inaccurate and misleading statements made by Minister Carolyn Bennett to the national media and to the chiefs gathered at a meeting of the Assembly of First Nations. Minister Bennett has falsely stated that the specific claims process is being “overhauled” in favour of a new regime that has been jointly developed by First Nations.

Statement following 5th annual B.C. Cabinet and First Nations Leaders’ Gathering

Scott Fraser, Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation; Kukpi7 Judy Wilson of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs; Regional Chief Terry Teegee of the BC Assembly of First Nations; and Robert Phillips of the First Nations Summit have issued the following statement on the final day of the B.C. Cabinet and First Nations Leaders’ Gathering in Vancouver on Coast Salish Territory: