Fast-Tracking or Back-Tracking?

Fast-Tracking or Back-Tracking?
Bill 14, Bill 15 and B.C.’s Broken Promise to the Land

by Tina Winterlik / Zipolita – May 29, 2025

1. Déjà vu from Clayoquot to Wet’suwet’en

In 1993, we packed lunches, wore out hiking boots, and locked arms in the War in the Woods to defend Clayoquot Sound. Thirty-one years later, the B.C. legislature has forgotten that lesson. Late last night, Bill 15 – the Infrastructure Projects Act – squeaked through on a 46-46 tie, broken only by Speaker Raj Chouhan’s deciding vote. Minutes earlier its sibling, Bill 14 – the Renewable Energy Projects Streamlining Act – passed by just four votes.

These laws hand cabinet sweeping power to declare almost any development “provincially significant,” short-circuiting environmental assessment, public input and – most alarmingly – constitutionally protected Indigenous consent. Premier David Eby insists they are about “schools and hospitals,” not mines or pipelines, but those limits are nowhere in the text.

2. Why the Uproar?

Who’s sounding the alarm?	What they’re saying	Source
First Nations Leadership Council (Tsartlip Chief Don Tom)	“The era of trust is over… the NDP makes decisions unilaterally.”	Public statements, May 2025
Former NDP Minister Melanie Mark	Bills “bypass constitutionally protected Indigenous rights.”	May 2025
Sierra Club BC	Cuts “public input, environmental safeguards and First Nations consultation.”	Media release
West Coast Environmental Law	Could green-light projects that trigger “another Mount Polley-style disaster.”	Legal analysis, May 2025

3. Divide-and-Conquer Economics

A handful of Nations backing specific wind or mining ventures have been spotlighted to imply broad Indigenous support. In reality, colonial policy forces communities to choose between poverty or risky developments on their own lands. That tension – visible in Wet’suwet’en and now in Bill 15 – is exactly why the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) was adopted into B.C. law in 2019: to guarantee free, prior and informed consent, not post-hoc lawsuits. These bills reverse that progress by shifting risk and legal costs back onto Nations.

4. What This Means on the Ground

• Speed without safeguards: Consultants hired by developers can now “self-certify” permits the public never sees.
• Environment pushed to the sidelines: The Wilderness Committee calls Bill 15 a “slap in the face to democracy and the environment.”
• Litigation inevitable: Chiefs have already signalled court challenges – draining Band coffers while projects march ahead.

5. Where Do We Go From Here?

1. Flood the inboxes: Email and phone your MLA, Premier Eby, and Infrastructure Minister Bowinn Ma demanding the bills be withdrawn and redrafted with full Indigenous participation.
2. Signal-boost frontline voices: Follow and share updates from the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, First Nations Leadership Council, and groups like the Wilderness Committee and Sierra Club BC.
3. Document everything: If your community faces a “fast-tracked” project, chronicle the process – FOI requests, local knowledge, photos. Evidence matters in court and media.
4. Stand in solidarity – visibly: Peaceful rallies kept Clayoquot in the headlines; presence still matters.
5. Support independent media: Outlets like The Narwhal and IndigiNews rely on reader support to keep digging when mainstream coverage moves on.

6. Reflect & Respond

“Progress without justice isn’t progress – it’s erasure.”

• Questions for readers:
• What safeguards would you require before supporting any “streamlined” approval?
• How can we ensure Nations pursuing their own economic visions aren’t pitted against those defending their territories?
• Have you experienced censorship or algorithmic suppression when sharing land-defence stories? What strategies help you break through?
• Quick poll (yes/no in the comments): Should the legislature suspend Bills 14 & 15 until full UNDRIP-compliant consultation occurs?

7. When Leaders Overstep: From Trump’s Tariffs to Eby’s Fast-Track Bills

This week, a U.S. federal trade court ruled that former President Donald Trump illegally imposed tariffs under a law that gave him emergency powers. The court declared that only Congress has the authority to regulate foreign commerce. Although a temporary appeal has reinstated them for now, the ruling is a reminder that no leader is above the law.

Here in British Columbia, Premier David Eby’s Bills 14 and 15 mimic this dangerous pattern. By pushing legislation that hands power to the executive branch and bypasses constitutional rights, he’s engaging in the same kind of democratic overreach. Just like Trump, Eby claims it’s “for the public good,” but when oversight, transparency, and consultation are stripped away, that “good” becomes a smokescreen for unchecked authority.

Whether it's Trump’s tariffs or Eby’s infrastructure blitz, the message is clear: fast-tracking injustice is still injustice.

Final Thoughts

If Premier Eby thought British Columbians had forgotten the lessons of the War in the Woods, he just reminded us why they mattered. Our elders taught us that the land is not a line item. These bills gamble with histories, futures, and ecosystems for the sake of speed. Let’s meet that gamble with the one thing no fast-track can outrun: collective, persistent resistance – online, on the ground, and in the courts.

Keep speaking. Keep writing. The algorithms may muffle us, but the forest still echoes. 🌲💔