NDP veteran Joan Phillip ‘seriously ill’ after pivotal role in DRIPA reversal

VANCOUVER — Premier David Eby says NDP MLA Joan Phillip is “very ill” and has asked British Columbians to pray for her and her family as she battles undisclosed health issues first disclosed last December..Eby described Phillip, the New Democrat parliamentary secretary for community development and non-profits, as “an incredible fighter” who remains highly respected across many communities. “We’re all worried about Joan right now, and we’re all praying for her,” he said Wednesday.The BC NDP caucus first revealed in early December 2025 that Phillip was “experiencing some health issues” and undergoing additional tests. It wasn't made clear at that time what her specific affliction was — only that she was undergoing ongoing testing.She has continued to represent her constituents throughout including a virtual appearance in the legislature just last week.No further medical details have been released publicly..Phillip’s recent opposition to the provincial government’s plan to suspend or amend key elements of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, also known as “DRIPA,” thrust her into the centre of a major political controversy.With the NDP holding a one-vote majority, her stance — conveyed in caucus and publicly reinforced by her husband, Grand Chief Stewart Phillip — forced the government to abandon the proposed changes earlier this month.A member of the Penticton Indian Band, Phillip has built a decades-long reputation as an Indigenous leader and climate activist.Born Joan Carter in North Vancouver on June 12, 1952, and raised partly in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, she has been politically active since age 16.She was a founding member of the Native Alliance for Red Power, participated in a 1975 indigenous delegation to China, and helped organize a 1990 rail blockade in solidarity with the Oka Crisis.She has campaigned against the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, the Site C dam, the Ajax mine and open-net salmon farms..Phillip first won election to the legislature in a 2023 by-election in Vancouver-Mount Pleasant and was re-elected in 2024 in Vancouver-Strathcona, where she now serves.The riding remains one of the NDP’s safest provincial strongholds, routinely delivering landslide victories even in tough years for the party elsewhere in British Columbia.Even if Phillip’s health forced her to step away from the legislature, it would likely have little impact on the Eby government’s broader DRIPA strategy.As recently as last week, sources indicated the premier was at least ten votes short of the support needed to pass a confidence motion on the issue — something Eby has denied.

NDP veteran Joan Phillip ‘seriously ill’ after pivotal role in DRIPA reversal

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