FIRST READING: ‘Indigenous reconciliation’ ranks at rock bottom of B.C. voter priorities

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The decision mentioned “reconciliation” twice in its final reasons, ruling that both Canada and British Columbia owed a “duty to the descendants of the Cowichan Nation … to negotiate in good faith reconciliation.”

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All the while, B.C. has also hosted a number of name changes and statue removals similarly pitched in the spirit of Indigenous reconciliation.

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Just in the last few months, Vancouver’s Patullo Bridge was renamed to stal̕əw̓asəm Bridge and a new Langley middle school was named stɑtl̓əw̓.

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As of last week, visitors to Simon Fraser University are now greeted with a large sign carrying the campus’s Indigenous names of “xʷtatəl̕ləm ʔə ƛ̓ səltaɬ sme:nt” and “Xwta7ltáw̓txw tl’a Lheḵw’lhúḵw’aytn.”

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“This Indigenous naming project supports SFU’s commitment to advance Truth and Reconciliation,” read an official statement.

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When British Columbians are polled on the specifics of reconciliation, they still appear to support some of its main tenets in principle, but have begun to bristle at some of its political consequences.

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An August poll by Research Co. found that while 59 per cent saw DRIPA as a “positive development” for Canada, an equal number (61 per cent) wanted all B.C. treaty negotiations to end until the Cowichan case was settled.

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The Ipsos poll came just one week before Eby called a snap election, declaring that he needed a fresh mandate to address the “existential” threat of U.S. President Donald Trump.

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In his first campaign press conference, newly minted B.C. Conservative Leader Lorne Doerkson said that his own top priority, if elected, would be to revoke DRIPA.

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“I will repeal DRIPA,” he said when asked his top priority.

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Observers at Eby’s Tuesday election announcement, meanwhile, noted that it was a rare instance of him beginning a public statement that wasn’t preceded by an Indigenous land acknowledgement.

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Ipsos surveyed 800 B.C. adults online between Sept. 8 and 14. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within plus or minus four percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

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IN OTHER NEWS

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The story of an Ontario grandmother reportedly euthanized against her will has been raised in Parliament this week, both in Canada and the U.K.

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In July, Canadian author Kelsi Sheran published a detailed account of the death of 83-year-old Brigitte Stegemann, a German-born grandmother whose family alleges that she was given MAID at a Belleville, Ont., retirement home despite objecting to the procedure out of religious conviction.

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Sheran’s account has an attending physician approving the MAID appointment after an interview with Stegemann, despite Stegemann suffering from hearing issues and being confused about basic details of her life, such as how many of her siblings are still alive.

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Brigitte Kranendonk, Stegemann’s granddaughter and primary caregiver, told the Daily Mail that staff explained the procedure to her grandmother as “’we’re going to give you medicine, you’re going to feel at peace. And I just want you to know that you won’t have a bowel movement.”

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Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre addressed Stegemann’s case on Tuesday, saying it “demands action” and “the Liberal government must strengthen and enforce safeguards to protect vulnerable Canadians from pressure and abuse.”

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It also received a mention from David Alton, a member of the U.K. House of Lords, who cited it in the context of an assisted suicide bill just being defeated in the U.K. Parliament.

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“This is the law which the pro euthanasia lobby has called for in the UK,” wrote Alton in a social media post. “Assisted Suicide would inevitably set us on the same road.”

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First Reading is a Canadian politics newsletter curated by the National Post’s own Tristin Hopper. To get an early version sent directly to your inbox, sign up here.

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