VICTORIA, B.C.: Scott McInnis, MLA for Columbia River-Revelstoke, and Critic for Indigenous Relations, is calling on the NDP government to abandon the third failed version of its Heritage Conservation Act overhaul, after municipalities, builders, developers, and the business community rejected it for the third time in a row.

“This isn’t a one-bill problem. It’s a pattern,” said McInnis. “Negotiate in secret. Consult after the fact. Ignore the pushback. We’ve seen it on DRIPA, on the Mineral Tenure Act, and now three times on the Heritage Act. At every step, this government has chosen secrecy over consultation, and every time it has blown up in their faces.”

The latest revisions, drafted on a 30-day timeline to meet the government’s own deadline, were rejected by UBCM, the Urban Development Institute, the BC Business Council, the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association, and the City of Kelowna. UBCM asked the province to pilot the changes before rolling them out. The minister said no.

“Three drafts, three rejections, same stakeholders. The problem isn’t the consultation. It’s the government,” said McInnis.

The real cost is showing up in the projects British Columbians depend on. The City of Kelowna reports that a single archaeological find at the site of a new provincial complex care facility has already caused months of delay under the existing law, and warns the proposed changes will make those delays worse. The Urban Development Institute warned that builders are looking at “safer jurisdictions” to invest in.

McInnis said the Heritage Act file cannot be separated from the government’s repeated flip-flopping on DRIPA, which has driven uncertainty across the economy. The Premier has flipped at least six times on whether to amend, suspend, defend, or appeal the Declaration Act. More than ten NDP MLAs reportedly raised concerns about their own government’s handling of DRIPA in caucus.

“It feels like everything this government touches falls apart,” said McInnis. “Six different positions on DRIPA in a matter of months. A Heritage Act bill rejected three times in a row. A Mineral Tenure Act ruled inconsistent with provincial law. British Columbians can’t run a business, build a home, or plan a project when the government can’t decide what its own laws mean from one week to the next.”

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