It was a simple question. Opposition Leader Trevor Halford stood up in BC's legislature and asked Premier David Eby directly: Is BC now co-governing with roughly 200 First Nations?

He wasn't speculating. He wasn't editorializing. He was quoting the BC Regional Chief of the Assembly of First Nations — the man who helped draft DRIPA in the first place — speaking on a Vancouver radio station just days earlier.

Eby refused to answer. Then he refused again. Then he refused a third time.

The Admission That Changed the Debate

CKNW radio host Jill Bennett put the question to Regional Chief Terry Teegee plainly: "We are now in a position where roughly 200 First Nations are co-governing this province with the B.C. government. Is that true?"

Teegee's response was unambiguous.

"Yes, that's exactly right."

— BC Regional Chief Terry Teegee, Assembly of First Nations, CKNW Radio, April 2026

Teegee went further, explaining that co-governance is the very purpose of DRIPA: "Ultimately we have to get into a room — and First Nations have to get in the room — and to the negotiations table to make decisions on these important matters. Really, it is putting the spotlight on how development occurs."

This was not a critic speaking. This was not opposition spin. This was one of the people who built DRIPA explaining, in plain language, what it does.

Eby's Three Refusals

Armed with Teegee's own words, Opposition Leader Halford asked Eby about it in the legislature. The exchange, reported by Vancouver Sun columnist Vaughn Palmer, went as follows:

Legislature Exchange — Week of April 28, 2026

Halford (Conservative): "Are the New Democrats now co-governing the province with First Nations leadership?"
Eby (NDP): Accused Conservatives of "deliberately twisting this to spread fear."
Halford: Pointed out he was directly quoting Regional Chief Teegee.
Eby: "This parliament remains supreme. But we are bounded by a Constitution that obliges us to do important work with First Nations."
Halford: "Was the regional chief wrong when he said Indigenous leaders are now co-governing with the province? It's a yes or no, premier."
Eby: Put the onus back on the Opposition. "We've got parliamentary representatives that are elected from every part of the province. We have to vote on laws."

Three questions. Three non-answers. Not once did Eby say Teegee was wrong. Not once did he say co-government is not happening. His only substantive claim — "this parliament remains supreme" — directly contradicts the BC Court of Appeal's recent ruling that the province's Mineral Tenure Act violates DRIPA, i.e. that DRIPA supersedes provincial legislation.

The Man Who Built It Says It's Co-Government

Terry Teegee's credibility on this question is beyond dispute. He was a central figure in the adoption of DRIPA under premier John Horgan. In his posthumous memoir, Horgan named Teegee as one of the Indigenous leaders who persuaded him to endorse UNDRIP and cited him as an authority on whether its "free, prior and informed consent" provision amounts to a veto.

Horgan quoted Teegee directly: "We don't have a veto but we need to know what you're doing on our territory. If we disagree with what you are doing, we can make it very difficult for you."

Now, seven years after DRIPA passed, Teegee has only become more direct. Asked on CKNW whether he is open to any changes to DRIPA, his answer was categorical.

"At this point, no. Absolutely not. I think DRIPA is working. I think, ultimately, it gets us to the place where we want to be in terms of how decisions are made."

— Regional Chief Terry Teegee, CKNW Radio, April 2026

DRIPA gets us "to the place where we want to be in terms of how decisions are made." That place, in Teegee's own words, is co-government.

What "Co-Government" Actually Means for BC

For most British Columbians, the phrase "co-government" is abstract. The practical reality is not. Under DRIPA, provincial legislation must be "consistent" with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples — which includes the right of Indigenous peoples to "use, own, develop and control" traditional territories and requires "free, prior and informed consent" for decisions affecting those territories.

DRIPA's Co-Government Track Record

  • BC Court of Appeal: Province's Mineral Tenure Act violates DRIPA (Gitxaała ruling)
  • 20+ lawsuits against BC amended following the Gitxaała decision
  • Heritage Conservation Act: 2 years of secret NDP-First Nations co-drafting, local government excluded until presented with a fait accompli
  • Cowichan Tribes: Aboriginal title granted over 324 hectares in Richmond — valued at $2.5 billion
  • Haida Gwaii: Province granted Aboriginal title over the entire island
  • Eby attempted to amend DRIPA → backed down after First Nations threatened "collective resistance"
  • Attorney General: No confirmed timeline for resolving DRIPA litigation risk

When a government's laws can be struck down because they violate an agreement it signed with another governing body — and when the Premier cannot say yes or no whether that body shares governance of the province — the question of "who runs BC?" is not rhetorical. It is live and unanswered.

The Fall Session Gamble

Attorney General Niki Sharma told the legislature the government is appealing the Gitxaała mineral claims decision to the Supreme Court of Canada while simultaneously holding "productive meetings" with First Nations to find a "durable solution" before the October 5 fall session.

But Teegee has already answered whether First Nations will agree to change DRIPA: "Absolutely not."

The government is betting that the same Regional Chief who just went on Vancouver radio and said "yes, exactly right — co-government" will, by October, sign off on amendments that would reduce First Nations' role in provincial decision-making. There is no evidence that bet is likely to pay off.

Vaughn Palmer, the Vancouver Sun's veteran legislature columnist and among the most credible observers of BC politics, put the contradiction plainly: "I'm more inclined to believe an Indigenous leader who has consistently supported and shaped DRIPA for the better part of 10 years, over a premier who has changed his mind a half dozen times in the past few weeks alone."

The man who built DRIPA says it means co-government. The Premier who must live with it refuses to say yes or no. And British Columbians — who vote for a legislature to govern them — are left to figure out what that means for their property, their mines, their development projects, and their province.