Exploring Ethical Space for land use planning in the Upper Columbia region of British Columbia

In 2019, British Columbia (BC) adopted Bill 41: The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA). DRIPA committed BC to developing a new planning framework, modernized land use planning (MLUP), that involves ethical collaboration with Indigenous Peoples. Planning theorists have long called for planning practices that interrogate dominant power imbalances. However, planning policy and practice is missing clear frameworks to implement ethical decision-making in land use planning. Ethical Space, a conceptual approach used to balance power between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, may prove to be a promising framework to ethically advance land use planning. This thesis examines how Ethical Space could be applied to land use planning, through an exploratory application in the Upper Columbia. Research methods include semi-structured interviews with practitioners and government representatives, document analyses, and reflective practices. Research findings present theoretical and practical applications of Ethical Space in land use planning.