The Province is proposing legislative changes in response to the desire of First Nations and local governments to make it easier to work together and better protect confidential and culturally sensitive information.

Currently, local governments can only close meetings for a limited set of reasons that do not include First Nation relations.

The amendments would allow local governments to hold closed meetings when discussing culturally sensitive and confidential information shared by First Nations and require meetings to be closed during negotiations with First Nations or other local governments.

Local governments can vote or pass resolutions in closed meetings, but all bylaws must be adopted in open meetings.

The new rules would apply only to specific situations and are being enacted to balance the need for public transparency with requests from local governments and First Nations to support their ability to hold in-camera (confidential) discussions about certain Indigenous heritage sites and knowledge, or during government-to-government negotiations and discussions.

To learn more, visit Government of British Columbia.