The Pender Harbour and Area Residents Association (PHARA) has filed a Notice of Civil Claim in BC Supreme Court, seeking to have the DRIPA struck down and declared of no force and effect. The constitutional challenge argues, among other things, that the DRIPA: is beyond the province’s constitutional authority; breaches the democratic rights of citizens by leaving them governed by an entity they had no say in electing; and illegally tries to tie the hands of future governments by dictating what types of laws they must pass… In 2024 PHARA filed a petition seeking to challenge the DRIPA and a related Order in Council that proposed to give the shíshálh Nation statutory decision-making powers under what is known as a DRIPA “section 7 agreement”. Government has since rescinded that specific Order in Council and signed an agreement with the shíshálh Nation to pursue other section 7 decision-making in the Sunshine Coast.