In this two-photograph panel; Conservative Leader John Rustad, left, speaks during a campaign stop in Abbotsford, and B.C. NDP Leader David Eby, right, speaks during a campaign stop in Langley, B.C., both on Saturday, September 28, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad says the federal government has been “absent” and failing to live up to commitments to First Nations on housing and clean water issues, and his government would step in and then send Ottawa the bill.
Rustad says if his party wins the Oct. 19 provincial election, B.C. would partner with First Nations and “unleash the potential” for prosperity through mining, forestry and other resource projects.
The B.C. Conservative Leader has previously pledged to repeal B.C. legislation adopting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and his party says in a release it would instead honour the declaration “as it was intended,” with laws advancing economic reconciliation and Indigenous autonomy.
Rustad, speaking in Cultus Lake, B.C., on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, says his government would create a loan guarantee program for First Nations to allow full participation in large projects.
He says he’s committed to returning 20 per cent of the province’s forestry volume to First Nations, who would be “landlords of that land” and reap the benefits rather than governments getting stumpage fees with only a fraction going to First Nations.
Greens Leader Sonia Furstenau meanwhile says B.C. has been a leader recognizing Indigenous rights, warning that some want to “undo that progress and go back to a paternalistic relationship” with First Nations.
She said in Victoria on Monday that governments need to abandon the past of “transactional approaches” to First Nations that she says have been “used to dispossess Indigenous peoples of land, culture and language, and move to relationships that are rooted in recognition of Aboriginal rights and title.”
The party leaders in B.C. all acknowledged Indigenous issues on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, as the province’s election campaign entered its second week.
Furstenau said the Green party wants “ubiquitous” First Nations leadership in the province.
NDP Leader David Eby was attending a ceremony at the University of British Columbia marking the day.
Rustad, wearing an orange shirt pin on his lapel, was accompanied at Cultus Lake by Sq’ewlets First Nation Chief Joseph Chapman and Indigenous candidates Chris Sankey and A’aliya Warbus,
Rustad, a former minister of Indigenous relations and reconciliation, said provincial legislation had created “friction” with the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and his government would remove and replace laws that get in the way of full economic reconciliation.
Nominations for the election officially closed on Saturday, and with their teams of candidates in place, leaders are looking ahead to their upcoming televised debate.
The Oct. 8 debate will be one of the few occasions B.C. voters will see the leaders of the New Democrats, B.C. Conservatives and the Greens face each other during the campaign.
Eby and Rustad spent the first week of the campaign taking verbal personal swings at each other and criticizing their policies.
Eby said Rustad’s “conspiracy theory” anti-vaccine position could end up hurting people and the health care system, while Rustad said the NDP leader was damaging the province with weak leadership and left-wing viewpoints.
Elections BC said its final list of nominated candidates for the vote includes 93 from the NDP, 93 from the B.C. Conservatives, 69 from the Greens and 40 Independents.
The list from Elections BC does not contain any official Opposition BC United candidates but does include five Freedom Party of B.C. hopefuls, four Libertarians, three representing the Communist Party of B.C. and two candidates from the Christian Heritage Party of B.C.
– With files from Brenna Owen
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 30, 2024.
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version said the leaders’ debate would take place on Oct. 9. In fact, it is scheduled to take place on Oct. 8.
