The B.C. government is appealing a landmark ruling handed down by the Supreme Court last week.
Attorney General Niki Sharma said the B.C. government strongly disagrees with the decision.
“British Columbia will be filing an appeal and seeking a stay to pause implementation until the appeal is resolved,” she said in a statement.
“We respect the court’s role in our justice system, but given the significant legal issues raised in the recent decision in Cowichan Tribes v. AG Canada et al., we believe it must be reconsidered on appeal. This ruling could have significant unintended consequences for fee simple private property rights in B.C. that must be reconsidered by a higher court.”
Sharma said this case is an example of why the province prefers to resolve land claims through negotiation and not court decisions.
The land claim ruling, which was Canada’s longest trial, was brought forward by four First Nations — Quw’utsun Nation, Cowichan Tribes, along with the Stz’uminus First Nation, Penelakut Tribe, Halalt First Nation and all other descendants of the Cowichan Nation — in 2019 to recover their government-held lands near the mouth of the Fraser River.
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They also sought a declaration of an Aboriginal right to fish the south arm of the Fraser River for food.
Today, land in the claim area is owned by the federal Crown, the B.C. government, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, the City of Richmond and private third parties.
The defendants in the case were not only the federal government, the B.C. government and the port authority, but also the Tsawwassen First Nation and the Musqueam Indian Band.
The ruling by Justice Barbara Young directs the Crown to decide how to settle ownership where current legal titles overlap with Cowichan’s newly-recognized title.
More to come…
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