WATCH: BC Conservatives say Eby's mixed messaging on DRIPA an 'abdication of leadership'

VICTORIA — The BC Conservatives have come out against the government's decision not to suspend or amend the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, better known as DRIPA. 

Interim Leader Trevor Halford went so far as suggesting Premier David Eby’s actions constituted an "abdication of leadership."

Earlier Monday — 24 hours after reports surfaced that he would be putting forth legislation to pause DRIPA — the premier revealed that his government would not be doing so this legislative session.

He explained that the change of plans came following a series of talks with First Nations Leadership Council chiefs. 

“These are very challenging times for our province right now, and they seem to be very challenging for the premier,” Halford said during a post-Question Period press conference. “What we’ve seen today, and actually over the past couple weeks, is an abdication of leadership.”

He went on to note that Premier Eby has changed his position on DRIPA six times, adding that British Columbians are looking for “certainty.”

“I know government is hard, and leadership can be hard,” Halford said, “but at the end of the day, the premier has made an absolute mess of the situation — and British Columbians and First Nations are suffering because of it.”

He expressed concern with Premier Eby’s actions related to the First Nations Leadership Council, warning that it was approaching “co-governance” with a body that is not answerable to the electorate. 

“Take politics aside, as leader of this province, he has got to show the province, the country, and the world that we have a structure of governance here,” Halford said. “So when the premier goes out and says something multiple times and signals that legislation will be forthcoming on an issue of this importance, and then last minute panics and says something different, then clarifies it, then panics again and pulls it back, he is not only signalling to British Columbians, he’s signalling to the country, he’s signalling to the entire world that he does not have the authority to lead.”