“There's a lot going on” in British Columbia's political scene, said Drea Humphrey on this week's edition of the Buffalo Roundtable, Rebel News' weekly show focusing on Western Canada.

Premier David Eby is “in hot water,” the Rebel reporter said, with his governing New Democrats facing “trouble” as the B.C. Conservatives' leadership campaign unfolds.

The focus, from both Eby and the four contenders vying to become opposition leader, has been surrounding DRIPA, the province's Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act.

The legislation, inspired by the United Nations, has attracted attention following a number of controversial legal rulings that have potentially upended existing property rights laws.

“The fact that the average person in British Columbia knows what that abbreviation even stands for shows you that this is a massive issue, and this is in regard to the land rights and Aboriginal title claims we continue to see,” noted Drea.

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“Gone are the days of where Premier David Eby was able to point at Dallas Brodie, leader of OneBC, and call her a racist for saying this should be appealed,” she said. 

The B.C. Conservatives, along with Brodie's right-of-centre OneBC party and independent MLAs, have all aligned on the contentious property rights issue.

Facing the mounting political and public pressure over DRIPA, Eby finally caved and acknowledged changes needed to be made. Rumours of a confidence vote over the matter have swirled, which could trigger an election.

“The timing is a bit of a mess” for the B.C. Conservatives, Drea said, adding the candidates who took part in a recent debate hosted by Juno News were in support of suspending the campaign should an election be called.

Caroline Elliott, one of the frontrunners, however, opposed the idea. But support for Elliott is “coming into question,” cautioned Drea, suggesting the “divisiveness” surrounding her campaign began after she chose not to attend the Juno debate.

“She's been strong on DRIPA, for sure,” Drea said in Elliott's defence, adding the party has been united in publicly pledging to repeal the act.

“Yeah, there's a lot going on,” Drea said. “And who knows what's going to happen with David Eby, he can't keep his own caucus happy.”