Articles related to Indigenous relations advocacy, legislation, policy, and relevant news.
UBCM and the Province have a joint working group focused on developing a framework for engaging local governments in Province-First Nations negotiations. At a joint session during the 2025 UBCM Convention, the working group solicited feedback to shape its work. An update from the working group now available.
This online webinar, hosted on April 9, 2026, provides an overview of modern treaties in British Columbia. The session explored the history of treaty negotiations in the province, highlighted recent policy developments, and examined the evolving role of local governments within the modern treaty process.
The Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM) has provided approval for its solicitor to apply to the Court of Appeal to intervene in the pending proceedings related to Cowichan Tribes v. Canada.
UBCM signed a renewed Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Indigenous Relations & Reconciliation (MIRR) during the 2024 Convention. Prior to signing, UBCM asked the Province for a strengthened commitment in the form of an implementation plan, and proposed a draft workplan to be collaborated on by MIRR and UBCM.
On the first day of Convention 2024, a province wide community-to-community forum was hosted by UBCM and the First Nations Leadership Council. To learn about their experience developing a relationship between a First Nation and local government, UBCM spent five minutes with a local mayor and chief Nasu?kin Heidi Gravelle, elected chief of Yaq̓it ʔa·knuqⱡi’it First Nation (Tobacco Plains Indian Band) and Nic Milligan is the mayor of neighbouring City of Fernie. (Nasu?kin is the Ktunaxa word for chief.)
The Urban Communities Partnering for Reconciliation (UCPR) fund started in 2023 as a pilot program. We are pleased that this pilot has been extended and will continue with open intake. The fund is intended to support eligible Indigenous organizations and local governments to work together to create opportunities for in-person dialogue and relationship building which can help advance collaborative reconciliation plans, protocols, agreements or future projects.
UBCM and the First Nations Leadership Council are pleased to announce that the Honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould will give the keynote address at the Provincial Community to Community Forum happening September 16, 2024 in Vancouver.
UBCM and the First Nations Leadership Council are pleased to announce that Kimberly Murray, Special Interlocutor for Missing Children and Unmarked Graves and Burial Sites associated with Indian Residential Schools, will be one of the speakers at the Provincial Community to Community Forum on September 16, 2024.
Local governments are invited to provide feedback on the quality of provincial consultation regarding treaty and non-treaty agreements in BC.
The Province has developed new guidance for emergency management partners, including local governments, related to engagement responsibilities included in the Emergency and Disaster Management Act (EDMA). The guidance will be updated annually, and as new tools and regulations associated with the EDMA come into effect.
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