‘I want to leave a greener economic footprint for my grandchildren and for their grandchildren,’ says former Lake Babine Chief Murphy Abraham.

The Tyee: Murphy Abraham got into politics with a view to the future.

“My whole journey here is to continue to pave the way for the next generation,” he said in a recent interview with The Tyee. “I’m not here to get rich. What I’m here for is to build up the north. What I’m here for is to leave positive footprints for the next generations.”

Right now, his future looks busy. Abraham, a former Lake Babine Nation Chief, is running for the BC NDP in Nechako Lakes, the same riding where Conservative Party of BC Leader John Rustad has won every election since 2005.

Rustad was booted from the BC Liberal caucus in 2022 for climate change skepticism and later joined the BC Conservatives, becoming the party’s first sitting MLA in decades.

Since then, the Conservative party’s meteoric rise has crushed the BC Liberals, which rebranded as BC United last year and then folded in August.

But Abraham hopes he can match that momentum with his own campaign, which began last month after he was acclaimed as the NDP candidate in the northern riding, which includes the communities of Houston, Burns Lake and Vanderhoof.

While Rustad has won every election since 2005 with a solid 50 per cent of the vote, previous NDP candidate Anne Marie Sam, from Nak’azdli Whut’en First Nation, made strides over the past two elections — moving from 30 per cent of the vote in 2017 to 35 per cent in 2020.

Abraham was born and raised in Burns Lake. He has worked for the Lake Babine band office, first as security and then as the co-ordinator for children’s sport and culture programs. He went on to serve as a band councillor beginning in 2018 and then as Chief. His most recent term ended in June.

While Abraham was on council, Lake Babine signed a foundation agreement with B.C. and Canada, which laid out incremental steps to recognizing the nation’s Aboriginal title.

Earlier this year, while still Chief, Abraham signed an agreement with B.C. to transfer land back to the nation. He also signed a $50-million funding agreement with the federal government for capacity building and infrastructure development.

Abraham says he decided to enter provincial politics because he wanted to see more resources for children and families in the north.

“My heart’s just in it to build a brighter future,” he said.

The Tyee caught up with Abraham as he was preparing for all-candidates forums in Burns Lake and Houston last week. He was the only candidate from the riding to show up. The following interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

The Tyee: What do you think voters miss when those debates don’t happen?

Murphy Abraham: I think what’s lost is the information that they need in terms of “How will you help us move forward as a province or as a municipality or as a nation?” To me, it feels like the Conservatives don’t really know how to move forward together, because this is a party that just formed with Kevin Falcon scrapping BC United. Now I believe that these two parties are head-butting. They’re not seeing eye to eye because their priorities are mixed up. Meanwhile, with the BC NDP, you have a united party that is hitting the ground running, knocking on doors and doing their best for British Columbians. This is what I feel is a big difference. There’s a party that knows the priorities and there’s a party that’s just not seeing eye to eye.

What are you hearing from constituents about the big issues in your riding?

The big issue here in the riding is, first and foremost, the sawmill closures. You see that in Houston, you see that in Fraser Lake, in Vanderhoof. There’s no communication, from my understanding, from our MLA to the mayors and council. We saw that first-hand with one of the councillors expressing his disappointment that their own MLA hasn’t reached out to them when he was in Vanderhoof making this announcement on the stumpage fee policy.

Is he really there for the middle class? Is he really there for the working people? For the homeless? Or is he there catering to the top two per cent? This is very discouraging. The north, especially Nechako Lakes, needs a stronger voice here, and they need a voice that will advocate for them, tooth and nail. This is what I’ll be doing, is advocating for the north and figuring out these solutions moving forward.

What do you see as some solutions to those job losses?

I know that Minister of Forests Bruce Ralston and his staff have been meeting with municipalities. Just a few weeks ago, they had a gathering in Vancouver. For me, I feel that we should look at working towards developing our own shareholders here in the north. The ones that live in the north, whether it be partnering up with the First Nations community and the municipalities and looking at how B.C. can support in terms of funding and developing this resource, so that the revenues can continue to flow back into the north. It could be a non-profit organization where we can just feed the revenue back into the communities where it’s dearly needed.

Coastal GasLink has also wound down over the last year, and I would imagine that leaves a gap in the local economy. Would you support future pipeline development?

During my term as Chief, we made sure that we had engaged with our community members and gotten their input. This could be a potential opportunity, as long as the impact to the environment is minimized. For an example, Lake Babine Nation Forestry, we had approved a best management practice where it increases the buffer zones around the watershed, where we can continue to support the ecosystem, making sure that the watersheds and the healthy forest continue to thrive for the next generations.

We really need to sit down and scrutinize these plans moving forward, but at the same time building up the economics and building up the careers for the ones that follow us. I want to leave a greener economic footprint for my grandchildren and for their grandchildren. We really need to sit down and figure this out together.

John Rustad has said that climate change is not a crisis. How much would you prioritize climate action?

I know it’s a priority because I live it. My wife and I harvest in Nilkitkwa Lake. We’re around Babine Lake. We’re out hunting, and we can see the effects that it’s having on the land. When it comes to the river, we weren’t catching enough fish. We can see the dramatic water levels dropping in the river and it makes it that much harder for the salmon to come up the river, especially when the heat is just overwhelming for them.

This is something that we witness first-hand. John Rustad needs to come here, to the north, and look at it for himself, and live it for himself, in order to believe it. Because to be honest, I haven’t seen him around here, the Nechako Lakes, until the last few weeks.

Rustad has also criticized the recent Haida title agreement and joint decision-making with First Nations, saying it would impact private property and public land use.

Lake Babine Nation signed a foundation agreement with B.C. in 2020 that was hailed as a model for returning title to First Nations. How do you respond when John Rustad says title agreements will impact private property?

This is not going to impact private property. I guarantee, because I was part of the Lake Babine leadership in 2020 that signed this foundation agreement.

As the former Chief for Lake Babine Nation, when we signed an agreement to take over 20,000 hectares of land from the province, we made sure that the nation and the provincial government did their due diligence to engage with the ones living within those territories. We’re not here to take over all of B.C.

People need to understand that there was history before colonization. There were laws put in place, or a process put in place, when it pertains to the lands, when it pertains to children and families. These are unwritten laws. These are laws that are here and right here [Abraham points to his head and heart] and that were practised year after year after year for well over a thousand years. It’s ignorant of him to bring that forward. It’s just separating and telling lies about us.

It’s something that’s close and dear to my heart, because I know that the First Nations had battled tooth and nail to get to these tables. We are just wanting to do things right, because we’re going to be here long after big industry is gone. We’re going to be here long after the jobs dry up, because our DNA is in the land, our DNA is in the water, our DNA is in the trees.

We want to be part of the economic development. We want to be part of society, and this is what we’ve been fighting for throughout those years.

You just mentioned division, and it makes me think about the tone of this election. I wonder if you have thoughts on how we move forward after as a province and as communities in a way that’s unifying?

The attitude that I’ve adopted over the years is to not take things personally. This is what I will be practising in the upcoming election, whether I get elected as the MLA or not. People need to put their differences aside, because our next generation of leaders and children are watching. They’re looking at us, and we should be the ones leading the way. We can have those tough conversations at those tables, and we can make sure that we leave that table shaking hands and making sure that we’re doing the best we can for all British Columbians.

We want to be here for the working man. We want to be here for the homeless and the youth and children. That’s my hope, when the election is over, is for everyone to sit down for the best of all the people here in British Columbia.

I think the child welfare system is near and dear to your heart, is it not? Do you have foster children?

My wife and I are foster care parents. We have our niece and three nephews in our care, and it took a considerable amount of time and effort to navigate that system. At first it was very challenging, because they were in a non-Indigenous home. We always thank those individuals for watching our family. Since then, things have changed. They’re more adapted to culture. They know the harvesting process. They know the hunting process. They’re starting to learn our language, our Bahlats [feast] system. They’re involved in community, and they’re surrounded by loving families.

We had laws in place before the Ministry of Children and Family Development system was in place. The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act gave direction for MCFD to sit down with the First Nations to develop these agreements, such as the Binche Whut’en First Nation and provincial government agreement.

Read more: ‘Rustad Is a Threat to First Nations and a Threat to Reconciliation’

We’re not trying to shut out MCFD or any other organizations. We want to work along with them, and they’re working along with us, too. I think this is going to be a great opportunity to show the world that there are different ways to take care of your children when it pertains to child protection, when it pertains to apprehension. We had those ways, and we just want to breathe life into them.

John Rustad has held this seat for almost 20 years. Do you think you can sway enough voters to support the NDP?

Yes. I believe I have the heart for it. I believe I’ve created enough relationships here in the north that I can build up this momentum and continue to be the voice for the Nechako Lakes. I’ve done some great work while I was in leadership with Lake Babine Nation. I’ll continue on with that great work being the MLA for the Nechako Lakes.

I’ve already reached out to the mayors. I’ve already reached out to the First Nations. I’m looking at opportunities to visit their communities so that I hear their concerns and hear their solutions and make sure that that’s brought to the legislature in Victoria. That is going to take a lot of work, but I’m ready for it.

Amanda Follett Hosgood The Tyee

Amanda Follett Hosgood is The Tyee’s northern B.C. reporter. She lives in Wet’suwet’en territory. Find her on X @amandajfollett.