A Roadblock to Reconciliation, a Union of BC Indian Chiefs Discussion Paper, examines how driver’s licensing in B.C. is implicated in cycle of disempowerment and exclusion, exposing many Indigenous women and youth to risk of violence as they hitchhike along highways. The report presents a comprehensive set of recommendations to improve the current driver’s licensing and training system for First Nations.
As detailed in the Road to Reconciliation, current barriers in driver’s licensing and training have wide ranging health, safety and justice implications for Indigenous peoples. These include reduced job opportunities, dangers associated with unlicensed driving, increased community exposure to COVID, over incarceration, and significant financial burdens and safety risks to women and children. As just one example, the report details how driving and the licensing process is deeply connected to the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls crisis due to limited public transportation options in some remote areas.
Recommendations in the report address:
- Cultural competency training for licensing staff, RCMP and others, and improved communications from ICBC to Indigenous communities,
- Increased flexibility in graduated licensing for older first-time drivers,
- Recognition of Treaty Nation citizenship cards as identification,
- Improved accessibility of testing,
- Culturally relevant and supported remedial driving programs to address impaired driving,
- Review and amendment of mandatory minimum jail sentences for non-criminal driving while prohibited offences,
- Funding for driver training programs for women or youth fleeing domestic violence, for communities in high-risk tsunami or wildfire zones, and for youth in care and those that have aged out of care, and
- Funding and support for driver training as a means to implement restorative justice before considering incarceration.
The report was prepared by Lucy Sager, Founder of the All Nations Driving Academy, in collaboration with the Union of BC Indian Chiefs.