News Release
August 2 2019

UBCIC Supports the Gitanyow in their Appeal and Calls for
All First Nations’ Rights to be Respected Equally

(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, B.C. – August 2, 2019) The Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) is applying for leave to the BC Court of Appeal to intervene in a critical case being advanced by the Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs. In the case under appeal, Gamlaxyeltxw v. British Columbia (Minister of Forests, Lands & Natural Resource Operations), the Hereditary Chiefs continue to defend the Aboriginal title and rights of the Gitanyow people.

News Release

July 29, 2019

UBCIC Calls on the Government of BC to uphold Tsilhqot’in Rights and protect Teẑtan Biny and Yanah Biny

(Coast Salish Territory / Vancouver, B.C. – July 29, 2019) For over two decades the Tsilhqot’in have battled to keep Taseko Mines Ltd. (TML) from destroying Teẑtan Biny and Yanah Biny with TML’s plan to create an open pit mine on a place of profound cultural and spiritual significance. Both TML and TNG have filed injunctions in B.C. Supreme Court and are in court today and tomorrow.

July 23, 2019   

The Honorable David Y. Ige

The Right Honorable Justin Trudeau

OPEN LETTER: The Sacred Ground of Mauna Kea and the Rights of the Kanaka Maoli Must be Honoured

Dear Governor David Ige and Prime Minister Trudeau,

The Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) stands in solidarity with the Kanaka Maoli relatives and the people of Hawaii fighting to protect the sacred Mauna Kea from the intrusion of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT), a project that has received $234 million in funding from the Canadian government and support from various Canadian universities.

News Release
June 18, 2019

Canada Approves TMX Despite Failing to Achieve Consent: Declaration of Climate Emergency Rings Hollow

(Traditional and unceded territories of the Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səl̓ilwətaʔɬ/sel̓ílwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh)- June 18, 2019) - In spite of today’s federal cabinet approval of the controversial project, Indigenous leaders from across BC remain staunchly opposed to the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion (TMX) and have vowed that it will never get built.  The federal government was forced to redo consultation with First Nations after a unanimous Federal Court of Appeal quashed a 2016 approval “falling well below the mark” on meaningful consultation set by the Supreme Court of Canada.

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.