Whereas section 90 of the Community Charter stipulates matters that may or must be considered in closed meetings; And whereas there is no inherent authority to close meetings to the public to consider information received and held in confidence from First Nations: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM urge the provincial government to consider amending section 90 of the Community Charter to allow local governments to close meetings to the public to consider information received and held in confidence from First Nations governments.
Ministry of Municipal Affairs Housing Government is committed to true, lasting reconciliation with First Nations in BC by fully adopting and implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The Province also recognizes the importance of ensuring local governments and First Nations can engage in a manner that respects the need for certain information to be held in confidence. Currently, Community Charter section 90 2b requires local governments to enter into a closed meeting if discussing confidential information related to negotiations with a provincial government andor the federal government, or between those governments on their own or together in conjunction with a third party. This provision would require council and board meetings to be closed when a local government is privy to information in treaty negotiations that include a First Nation and another level of government and confidential matters related to those negotiations are being discussed. The Province recognizes that there may be other situations outside of treaty or other formal negotiations requiring councils or boards to consider information from a First Nation that is provided on a confidential basis, and to which the closed meeting criteria currently does not apply. The Ministry is undertaking a preliminary exploration of this issue to understand more clearly the nature of such information, the circumstances in which this might arise, as well as the legal and other considerations involved. That work will include considering whether to recommend to government that the Community Charters closed meeting provisions be amended to allow for closed meeting consideration of such information from First Nations.