During debate on supplementary funding for a half dozen agreements with First Nations, Olsen challenged Indigenous Relations Minister Murray Rankin for failing to provide all First Nations with necessary funding to consult on provincial legislation.

The funding was an implied commitment when B.C. enshrined the principles of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples into provincial law.

But as Olsen noted, “There are no funds available, as I can see — and maybe the minister can correct me if I’m wrong — for Indigenous leaders to be able to engage in the consultation and co-operation with the provincial government when it comes to the alignment of laws — not only the laws that are currently on the books but, in addition, all of the laws that the provincial government is currently in the process of drafting.”

Rankin didn’t correct him or say he was wrong...

, Olsen underscored the connection between the lack of funding for Indigenous consultations on legislation and the delay in getting legislation into the house.

“Now we are in a bit of a legislative gridlock here,” he noted. “I do not want to hear one peep from anybody that this was because Indigenous people were not able to respond to the legislative, the technical and the policy work.

“So far, this provincial government has offered little or no resources for that technical work to actually be funded.”..

Outside the house, Rankin didn’t deny that the government had fallen short of providing the resources to First Nations suggested by the Green party house leader. “We obviously want to do better and work with them (Indigenous leaders) to ensure they have the resources to do this important work,” Rankin told Katie DeRosa of Postmedia News.

The government tries to do as much consultation as possible said Rankin. But he pleaded that it was not possible to send every bill to every one of the 204 recognized First Nations in B.C.

No, but the government needs to clarify its obligations to consult First Nations and do so in short order. Otherwise it risks many more holdups in the premier’s ambitious legislative plan.

Companies owned by the Cowichan Tribes have so far been frozen

 out of the $1.45-billion Cowichan District Hospital replacement project.