(Coast Salish Territory / Vancouver, B.C. – September 26, 2016) On Monday September 26, as part of the Royal Tour Itinerary, the Honourable Judith Guichon, Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia will be hosting the Black Rod Ceremony at Government House. The Honourable Judge Steven Point - Xwĕ lī qwĕl tĕl – will be supporting the ceremony.

URGENT REQUEST FOR SUPPORT

Treaty 8 Territory/Peace River Valley/ British Columbia

Our people, Prophet River and West Moberly First Nations, have been fighting the Site C hydroelectric dam project (“the project”) for close to five decades. The project threatens to flood three of the largest rivers in our territory: Peace, Moberly, and Halfway Rivers. Over 107 kilometers of river valleys and their tributaries could be under water including ancient burial sites.

Dear National Energy Board Members:

We are writing to express our vehement opposition to the National Energy Board (NEB) granting the Enbridge Northern Gateway Project’s sunset clause extension request. We understand that the NEB will be considering Enbridge’s request for a permit extension and is accepting comments from the public before making your decision.

The First Nations Leadership Council (FNLC) calls on the Government of British Columbia and Canada to recognize the extreme risk to which their promotion of the BC finfish aquaculture industry presents to not only the pristine coastal BC environment but to already critically low wild salmon runs on which many British Columbians rely.

(Coast Salish Territory / Vancouver, B.C. – May 17, 2016)  At the 15th session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Canada publicly stated it would be a full supporter of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Declaration) without qualification and then immediately qualified the statement by adding “to adopt and implement the declaration in accordance with the Canadian Constitution.”

Dear Minister Tootoo and Minister Wilson-Raybould:

We are writing in regard to the circumstances surrounding the 2015 legal decision Morton v. Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and Marine Harvest. It has come to our attention in British Columbia that in your capacity as Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada you appear as a co-appellant with the salmon farming corporation, Marine Harvest, to appeal that 2015 legal decision. We find your decision very disturbing and we ask you to immediately reconsider your participation.

We are writing with respect to your correspondence from March 18, 2016 regarding “Information about the Proposed Amendments to National Energy Board Regulations for Pipeline Damage Prevention, Now Available for a 30-Day Comment Period”. On behalf of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) we are submitting this letter to clarify some potential concerns for First Nations in terms of regulations developed under the Pipeline Safety Act (“the Act”). In providing these comments, we are not in any way providing our approval of the Pipeline Safety Act or its regulations.

March 31, 2016

Dear Minister Bennett:

On February 13, 2016, you met with the Union of BC Indian Chiefs (“UBCIC”) Executive in Vancouver to initiate a working relationship and review our organization’s priorities with a view to future discussions. At that meeting you made an explicit commitment to restore funding for specific claims research and development to Claims Research Units (“CRUs”) and First Nations across Canada. In 2014, drastic funding cuts ranging from 30-60% were meted out to these organizations as part of the Harper government’s Deficit Reduction Action Plan. We stressed to you the urgency of restoring funding, and the timeliness required as INAC’s responses to annual research funding proposals submitted by CRUs and First Nations in January 2016 were expected at the end of March.

(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, B.C. – October 20, 2015) The 2015 Federal Election resulted in a Liberal majority government with 70% of the registered electors in British Columbia electing 17 Liberal, 14 NDP, 10 Conservative and 1 Green Party representatives.

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.