The News Rundown

Eby plans $150 million in loan guarantees for Cowichan land owners

BC Premier David Eby has had to do some major backtracking this week on Indigenous relations, following the landmark BC Court of Appeal ruling that the mineral claims legislation violated the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, with its sweeping grants to Indigenous nations of rights to consultation, accommodation and consent.
UNDRIP, or DRIPA, passed unanimously by the BC legislature six years ago, established a framework for the province and Indigenous leaders to work together over time to reconcile laws with UNDRIP principles. Instead, it has provided a lot of uncertainty over what degree of Aboriginal title or rights exist over land in BC, whether held by the government, or privately.
Eby said this week that the B.C. Court of Appeal encroached on “the territory of government”, and the law was never intended to put the courts “in the driver’s seat.”
“We’re going to review the decision and, if necessary, amend the Declaration Act to ensure that our original intention when we introduced it is clear,” Eby said last Friday.
He added this week: “Clearly amendments are needed. This is the territory of government, negotiating with First Nations, setting the pace and choosing the laws to bring into alignment.”
The premier rejected a call from the Opposition Conservatives to recall the legislature and amend the Declaration Act straightaway. Rather, he said, the government will take its time and consult Indigenous leaders.
Eby’s indignation at the court’s encroachment on government territory is difficult to reconcile with a related piece of legislation he introduced during his last year as attorney-general before becoming premier.
He introduced an amendment to the Interpretation Act in November 2021 which directed that henceforth all provincial laws and regulations “must be construed as being consistent with the UN declaration.”
The change was a product of “a deeply collaborative co-development process with Indigenous organizations,” Eby told the legislature. It was also the first law of its kind in Canada.
At the time, he assured the legislature that “It takes another step forward on the alignment of laws by making it explicit that the province’s preferred approach to interpretation of provincial acts and regulations requires consistency with the UN declaration.”
“This amendment underscores the importance of consistency with the UN declaration on the rights of Indigenous peoples when there are questions about the interpretation of provincial acts and regulations.”
The change did include a caveat: “If a court considers a provincial law to be inconsistent with the UN declaration, this amendment does not allow the court to read in, read down, or find that law to be of no force or effect.”
Rather, it was “consistent with the understanding that the substantive work of amending existing laws in our province, or introducing new laws to be consistent with the UN declaration, must be done in consultation and cooperation with Indigenous peoples.”
B.C. Appeal Court Justice Gail Dickson, writing for herself and colleague Nitya Iyer, chose to focus on the “must” in the amendment to the Interpretation Act. As in: “Every act and regulation must be construed as being consistent with the declaration.”
Meaning: “The government MUST (her emphasis) take all measures necessary to ensure that all the laws of B.C. are consistent with UNDRIP.”
If one accepts Eby’s version, the appeals court decision to overturn the mineral claims regime looks like a case of an activist judiciary overriding a politician’s statement of good intentions. But the change in the Interpretation Act was also invoked by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Barbara Young in awarding Aboriginal title to the Cowichan Tribes over hundreds of acres of public and private land in Richmond.
She cited Eby’s amendment to the act in ruling that private land titles, awarded under the Land Act, were not immune from findings of Aboriginal title. “To construe it otherwise would be inconsistent with UNDRIP.”
That passage in the Cowichan decision prompted Independent MLA Elenore Sturko to introduce a bill to repeal Eby’s amendment to the Interpretation Act, thereby precluding similar action by the courts in other cases.
The New Democrats allowed Sturko’s measure to pass first reading on Nov. 19. It was the same day they used their legislative majority to kill a measure from Independent Jordan Kealey to repeal the Declaration Act altogether.
The government took no further action on the Sturko bill, allowing it to languish on the order paper.
Now that another court has seized the opening provided by Eby’s amendment to the Interpretation Act, Sturko expressed doubt that the premier was all that surprised by the outcome: “Eby is a master of pretending that these are unintended consequences, these things that the government set out to do. But this (outcome) was the entire agenda and point of the legislation that they put in.”
And that's exactly it, the UNDRIP legislation was intended to do exactly what it said it would, bring all the laws of BC into line. Eby is claiming the moral high ground in seeking reconciliation with Indigenous nations, yet the commitment is undermined by a pattern of secrecy, coverup and denial.
Two years ago, the B.C. New Democrats launched a makeover of the Land Act, geared to “shared decision-making” with Indigenous nations on public lands and aiming to produce amendments for the spring 2024 session of the legislature.
The process was supposed to include “public engagement”. But the government neglected to tell the public. There was no news release, no ministerial statement of purpose.
That summer, two NDP ministers reached an accord with the shíshálh First Nation (Sechelt), providing $104 million over five years, six square kilometres of land on the Sunshine Coast, and other significant commitments. The deal was signed on Aug. 16, five weeks before the legislature was dissolved for the 2024 election. The terms were kept secret until well after the NDP’s narrow re-election.
This past summer, local government representatives were invited to “an engagement opportunity” on changes to the Heritage Conservation Act. Those who attended were confronted with the product of two years of confidential consultations by a working group of provincial public servants and Indigenous leaders.
And now, the government is facing concerns about the Aug. 7 B.C. Supreme Court decision that awarded the Cowichan Tribes Aboriginal title over public and private land in Richmond.
The premier promised the government would appeal the decision and defend property rights. He complained that Justice Barbara Young had rejected the province’s call for private property owners to be notified in advance of the implications of the complex proceeding.
His righteous stance was somewhat undermined when it came out that the court had advised the province that it could notify the private landowners if it thought that necessary. The province did not accept the invitation to do so.
Then, on Sept. 5, the province intervened in a B.C. Supreme Court proceeding brought by the Haida Nation.
The nation sought constitutional entrenchment of the 2024 agreement and legislation where the Eby government recognized Aboriginal title for the Haida over all of Haida Gwaii.
The Haida wanted to make sure that the recognition could not be undone by a change of government. B.C.’s lawyer agreed: “If the legislature makes a law, it can unmake the law.” The judge granted the application to “constitutionalize” the Haida Aboriginal title. The Haida went public with the win after the fact. But neither they nor the government disclosed what was said in court.
Eby now said his government plans to offer private owners of land in the Cowichan Aboriginal title area more than $150 million in loan guarantees, amid fears about the impact of the landmark ruling on their financing.
He said the fund could include $100 million in guaranteed financing for Montrose Properties, the biggest private owner in the Aboriginal title area, and a further $54 million for smaller owners. Rough estimates indicate the hundreds of hectares of affected private land could have a market value as high as $2 billion.
Eby said: “We are preparing work to be able to offer a guarantee to affected homeowners and business owners in the specific area identified by the court, so they can access financing. People’s homes and businesses are not bargaining chips. Whether a family home or an industrial park owned by a business, we will go to the wall to defend private property — full stop.”
Vaughn Palmer, columnist of the Vancouver Sun says: "This government’s agenda on Indigenous relations is so secretive, those in charge don’t even tell their own people what they are doing and why. Through 40 years of covering B.C. governments, I have argued that one should not presume a conspiracy where mere incompetence would explain what happens. But given the Eby government’s pattern of secrecy, coverup and denial on Indigenous relations, I suspect there is a hidden agenda to keep the public in the dark as much as possible, and for as long as possible."
That sums it all up. Justice Ernest Drapeau of New Brunswick Court of Appeal said in a ruling this week against a claim of Aboriginal title over private land in his province that: “A declaration of Aboriginal title over privately owned lands — which, by its very nature, gives the Aboriginal beneficiary exclusive possession, occupation, and use — would sound the death knell of reconciliation with the interests of non-Aboriginal Canadians.”
Supplementals:

Almost 29,000 jobs were created in Alberta this past November. In total country wide 53,600 jobs were created which means Alberta accounted for more than half of this number.
Employment was up in most regions of the country except Quebec and Newfoundland.
What’s more astounding for Alberta is that almost 25,000 of these jobs are full time which means they aren’t temporary seasonal work.
Youth based unemployment also fell from 14.7% in September to 12.8% in November. That 14.7% marker was the highest it had been since 2010 outside the pandemic.
Edmonton based youth employment coaches believe it’s still too early to see market changes from the province’s new Youth Employment Incentive.
The program, comprised of $8 million in grants for employers to hire Albertans between 15 and 24.
The economic diversification initiatives embarked on a number of years ago are showing proof that they worked.
Canadian flight-simulator-maker CAE Inc. announced a deal with WestJet in October to establish the Alberta Training Centre of Excellence for Aviation and Aerospace in the city, while Lufthansa Technik is developing a $120-million engine repair facility in Calgary.
There’s also Calgary-based Blackline Safety, a cloud-connected safety manufacturing company with global operations, has added almost 120 workers this year and now has 620 employees, mainly in Alberta.
The diversification reason was backed up by Calgary Chamber of Commerce CEO Deborah Yedlin who said, “where we’re seeing growth tells me that we’re continuing to diversify the economy. You don’t hire people unless you think there’s opportunity and that you’re optimistic about what you can do from a business standpoint.”
The numbers also mean that Alberta’s economy is more insulated from US tariffs per Charles St-Arnaud, chief economist at Servus Credit Union. He continued, “Earlier this year, the labour market seemed too weak for what the economy was doing. What we’re seeing now is probably a return to reality or a reversal of that weakness. It shows an economy that’s on relatively solid footing.”
For context, the decrease in Alberta’s unemployment rate to 6.5% brings the province to the national average. But that drop and the jobs associated with it are the single biggest decline since record keeping began 49 years ago.
This is amid US tariffs and oil prices at $60/barrel when higher would be better for coffers. Oil and gas drilling is expected to increase by about 3% next year.
All the indicators are looking more normal including population growth returning to normal levels from what was described as “red hot” in 2023 and 2024.
With those lower population growth numbers the labour market in the province is now able to create enough jobs to keep pace.
Economics works on the laws of supply and demand both for goods and services as people imagine but also employment.
What this means is that there’s a two sided equation where on one side the province or country as a whole needs to have a good climate for creating jobs but at the same time all those jobs can’t be taken by more people than the economy can handle.
If more people are looking for jobs than are available that’s what creates unemployment.
This story was blindsided by the continued strife and controversy this legislative session from the use of the notwithstanding clause to recall and continued changes to the healthcare system.
The reality though the looking through this story is that if Alberta were used as a blueprint for the rest of the country the economic productivity measured in GDP per capital would increase drastically.
Supplementals:

The CRA spent $18M on 'Charlie,' a new tax information chatbot that is wrong most of the time

The Canada Revenue Agency is under fire for spending $18M to develop a chatbot nicknamed 'Charlie' that repeatedly gave out the wrong information to Canadians trying to file their taxes.
When tested by Auditor General Karen Hogan’s team, they found it was only accurate about 1/3 of the time.
The chatbot could help answer general tax filing questions but was still “learning about the CRA,” the agency warned, saying that "the questions you ask will help it become more knowledgeable and interactive. Charlie will make it easier to get the information you need to help you file your income tax and benefit return!”
According to the CRA, people have engaged in over seven million “conversations” with Charlie and asked over 18 million questions since its inception.
Fast forward five years and Hogan suggested that the chatbot that was present on 13 CRA web pages still has a lot of learning to do. Her scathing report on CRA’s call centres published in October said: “Charlie’s responses tended to be brief, offering limited context and minimal additional information. We found that Charlie provided accurate answers in only 2 out of the 6 questions we asked it, while the other public web-based conversational artificial intelligence tools answered 5 out of 6 questions accurately.”
The finding stunned Liberal MP Anthony Housefather, who asked Hogan at the time “how is it that the government’s tool specialized for the CRA is worse than the average tool that anyone else can access anywhere?”
The software feature was announced in 2020 by then-National Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier and was slated to cost taxpayers more than $18 million.
According to documents tabled in Parliament on Monday, $13.67 million went to pay the salaries of those who worked on it, in addition to costs related to employee benefits and travel. Another $3.21 million was spent on the project’s IT consultants.
Conservative national revenue critic Gérard Deltell said: “Obviously, it’s a lot of taxpayer money. We have to recognize that 33 per cent, it’s not satisfactory at all.”
The CRA said there was a period where the measured “accuracy threshold” of the tool was 70 per cent, and said it upgraded Charlie to a generative AI chatbot (closer to ChatGPT) that could respond to more questions. The agency says pre-release testing of AI Charlie suggested an accuracy rate of “approximately 90%.”
The CRA also said it doubled its responsiveness during the fall thanks in part to rehiring or extending the contracts of over 1,200 call centre employees and improving some digital services including Charlie the Chatbot.
Still the CRA did not answer questions about the cost of the chatbot at a time when developing such AI-powered tools is increasingly cheaper thanks to proliferating large-language model tools (such as ChatGPT).
National Post asked Charlie the Chatbot to explain why it cost $18 million to create and maintain, but the chatbot wouldn't say, of course: “The context provided does not include specific information about the $18 million cost to create and maintain the CRA’s GenAI chatbot beta or any other system,” it responded while advising to contact the CRA.
That makes it about as useful as the government - not giving us the answers the public deserves.
Supplementals:

Firing Line

Ex-Conservative MP Michael Ma crosses floor to join Carney Liberals

Conservative MP Michael Ma has crossed the floor to the Liberals brining the party to 171 seats and 1 seat away from a functional majority. If the Liberals manage to get 1 more member on their side by floor crossing or vote, they will have a functional majority.
Ma represents the riding of Markham-Unionville which in the past has alternated between Conservative and Liberal going back to 2015. Prior to that it was long-term MP John McCallum’s seat. McCallum eventually went on to be Canada’s ambassador to China.
The bulk of the coverage of this floor crossing has revolved around Pierre Poilievre and the parliament hill mechanics at play.
The Conservatives will have a convention in January where Poilievre will face a leadership review as is the requirement after every election where the party does not form government.
The discussion has focused on whether or not Poilievre will survive that and if there will be more Conservatives to cross the floor.
Absent the discussion on this floor crossing is any of the history surrounding this riding. What this means is there has been zero discussion of China’s campaign of foreign influence in the riding.
Starting in 2021 Erin O’Toole’s team was briefed that CCP officials were actively surveilling candidate Bob Saroya in the election. These reports came from CSIS which they called “coordinated and alarming.”
During the 2025 campaign Liberal MP Paul Chiang suggested that the then Conservative candidate Joe Tay should be taken in for a bounty to the Chinese communist party.
Hong Kong police officials had placed a bounty on Tay because of works he published criticizing the Chinese state.
The threat of foreign interference and the actual work employed by the CCP forced Joe Tay to be moved to the neighbouring riding of Don Valley North.
Don Valley North and Markham-Unionville raised many questions during the 2025 campaign.
Hong Kong diaspora groups wrote to the RCMP and the RCMP said they’d review the matter between Tay and Chiang and with the increased focus Chiang stepped down as the candidate.
This week Tay wrote on X, “when I announced my candidacy in the same Markham–Unionville riding, throughout the nomination contest and until the conclusion of the 2025 federal election, the RCMP confirmed—supported by findings from the SITE Task Force—and the Department of Foreign Affairs publicly condemned acts of Foreign election interference directed at me, my family, overseas relatives, my campaign volunteers, and the entire election operation.”
The RCMP still has not published a report on the matter and CSIS has been quiet.
Tay in Don Valley North ultimately did not win and had to effectively campaign quietly for his own safety but that shows what we are working with here.
The riding of Markham-Unionville has been repeatedly flagged through intelligence briefings as being one where we should be concerned about foreign interference.
The adjacent riding saw an MP need to go into hiding during an election campaign.
No evidence is present that shows that Ma is a Chinese asset, China had a role in the floor crossing, or there is something afoot here other than political opportunism.
But because this floor crossing puts the government so close to a majority and there were concerns of foreign influence in the area before it deserves more scrutiny than anyone has given it to this point.
The Westminster system inherently allows for floor crossings, they can’t be banned. What can be done though is that each party can have MPs sign a vow that if they intend to cross the floor they must resign and run in a by-election.
This raises the question of where could Carney get a majority and how big could it actually be? Could the riding of Terrebonne put it in jeopardy?
The case of Terrebonne has been referred to the Supreme Court. That riding saw the Bloc Québécois candidate lose by 1 vote to the Liberal in a riding where it is known that multiple ballots in favour of the Bloc Quebécois did not get to Elections Canada in time thanks to Canada Post.
Had Canada Post been functioning properly the Liberals likely would not be as close to a majority.
The case of foreign interference and postal problems in Terrebonne illustrate just how important it is for our voting system to work effectively and produce clear results especially when the macro level results determine majority or minority.
In closing we return to Joe Tay who specifically asked the Prime Minister to “without regard to party lines—to safeguard the democratic election system we cherish and respect. Even if existing laws permit party-switching, the world is watching—especially countries that, under authoritarian rule, are denied democratic elections. They are observing whether Canada still has the resolve to defend democracy.”
The media instead this week chose to focus on Poilievre and the internal dynamics of the Conservative Party when foreign interference and a court case could and should have been the discussion about whether or not Carney will attain a majority.
Supplementals:

Quote of the Week

“Without regard to party lines—to safeguard the democratic election system we cherish and respect. Even if existing laws permit party-switching, the world is watching—especially countries that, under authoritarian rule, are denied democratic elections. They are observing whether Canada still has the resolve to defend democracy.” - Joe Tay, former Conservative candidate for Don Valley North on foreign interference and floor crossings.

Word of the Week

must - to be obliged to do something

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Show Data

Episode Title: Unintended Consequences
Teaser: David Eby backtracks on indigenous reconciliation, Alberta’s job creation lowers unemployment, and the CRA spends $18M on a chatbot that doesn’t work. Also, another floor crossing shows the importance of foreign interference coverage.
Production Code: WC-448-2025-12-13
Recorded Date: December 13, 2025
Release Date: December 14, 2025
Duration: 1:10:23
Edit Notes: Restart BC story

Podcast Summary Notes

Duration: XX:XX