Findlay says \u2018no directive\u2019 to B.C. Conservatives on First Nations terminology<\/p>\n
Published 5:02 pm Tuesday, July 28, 2026<\/p>\n
B.C. Conservative Leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay says she doesn\u2019t know where the information came from that alleges her MLAs were given a directive to no longer use the term \u2018First Nations.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know where that came from, he presented no evidence. There\u2019s been no such directive, and I think that is mere speculation and I really don\u2019t comment on hypotheticals,\u201d she told Black Press Media in a one-on-one interview Tuesday (July 28).<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s simply not true. There was no directive, nothing like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Findlay is referring to a July 27 article in Business in Vancouver, \u201cBC Conservatives urged to stop using term \u2018First Nations,\u2019<\/a>\u201d by Rob Shaw. He covers politics in B.C. for Chek News and Business in Vancouver.<\/p>\n In his article, he says senior staff have started directing some MLAs to no longer use the term \u201cFirst Nations,\u201d but instead use terminology such as Indigenous, Aboriginal and \u201cIndian.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe directive, which has been recently communicated by Findlay\u2019s senior staff to some\u2014but not all\u2014MLAs and opposition staffers, is apparently in response to the term First Nations being viewed as a woke description and language from the left,\u201d his story says.<\/p>\n The article does not say how the directive was communicated, by whom or to whom.<\/p>\n Indigenous has become more widely used in recent years to refer to First Nations, Inuit or M\u00e9tis people.<\/p>\n Aboriginal has been used in more legal and educational contexts, but the B.C. government\u2019s website refers to \u201cIndigenous Education<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIndian\u201d has become outdated, with most uses \u201cdiscouraged and considered offensive,\u201d the Government of Canada website says<\/a>. It\u2019s still used in a legal sense, namely the Indian Act of 1876.<\/p>\n Multiple Conservative MLAs have spoken out online against the article, saying there has been no directive.<\/p>\n Langley-Walnut Grove MLA Misty Van Popta took to X<\/a> to address the story where she said she wasn\u2019t contacted regarding the alleged directive.<\/p>\n Van Popta told Black Press Media that: \u201cAll I\u2019ll say is that there was no caucus directive.\u201d She declined to comment further.<\/p>\n