Canada’s United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act

In June 2021, the Government of Canada passed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (UNDA), formally engraining Canada’s commitment to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) into legislation and a key step to renewing relationships with Indigenous peoples. This legislation and subsequent UNDA Action Plan is intended to advance the implementation of UNDRIP across Canada, and a roadmap to working in consultation and cooperation with First Nations.

FNFC’s Stemming the Tide Report was developed to outline recommendations and concrete actions to implement UNDRIP and the UNDA Action Plan in the context of fish, fisheries, and aquatic habitat priorities in BC. It builds from FNFC’s Turning the Tide Report, which provided recommendations to the Province of BC’s implementation of UNDRIP (BC Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act). Recommendations as set out in the Stemming the Tide report is to harmonize efforts and support ongoing work by First Nations, the Government of Canada, and the Province of BC to realize the commitments to UNDRIP and broader reconciliation commitments and supporting First Nations’ rights and objectives for wild fish, aquatic habitat, and First Nations communities.

This discussion paper was developed in collaboration with a Policy Analysis Group, and input from First Nations in BC through a series of policy forums. A companion toolkit is also in development, to serve as a resource for First Nations in BC when engaging with Crown governments to implement UNDRIP.