Rob Shaw: B.C. says Aboriginal title and private property rights cannot co-exist, Land Title Act might trump Indigenous
Posted: Wed Oct 29, 2025 9:31 am
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Rob Shaw: B.C. says Aboriginal title and private property rights cannot co-exist, Land Title Act might trump Indigenous claims
Avatar photo
by Rob Shaw
October 28, 2025 5:09 pm
Country Meadows Golf Course, which falls within the boundaries of a Cowichan Nation Aboriginal title claim, is seen in an aerial view in Richmond, B.C., on Friday, Aug. 22, 2025. A ruling in B.C. Supreme Court confirmed Cowichan Aboriginal title and fishing rights over a stretch of land on Lulu Island next to the south arm of the Fraser River where the nation had a summer village where members fished for salmon. According to the Cowichan Nation the village was first observed by Hudson's Bay Company officials in 1824 as containing over 108 longhouses. THE CANADIAN
The B.C. government is scrambling to re-assure private property owners that it won’t allow Aboriginal title to supersede their private property rights, as concerned Richmond residents gather for an information session on the issue Tuesday night.
Attorney General Niki Sharma sharpened the government’s position in advance of what is expected to be a heated session, saying she will not accept the B.C. Supreme Court’s conclusion in the recent Cowichan Nation case that Aboriginal title sits above existing private land ownership as a superior title.
RELATED: ‘Why did you not warn us’: Frustration for B.C. land owners at Cowichan case meeting
The two are incompatible and cannot sit on the same piece of land at the same time in their full form, because both appear to grant the holder the exclusive right to use that land, according to the government.
“We will be tackling that question with what will be a very complicated response in terms of our legal arguments,” Sharma said Tuesday. “But at the foremost of it will be the idea that once you have a fee simple title in B.C., it has to mean that those boundaries of that land is your land.
“That that type of legal instrument is very fundamental to our province, and in fact the country,” she added.
Watch the full story below:
The BC Supreme Court ruled in August that the Cowichan Nation had Aboriginal title to more than 800 acres of traditional village territory in what is now the City of Richmond. The justice described Aboriginal title as above the B.C. Land Title Act.
The ruling invalidated some city and federal land titles in the area, but did not invalidate any private property. The justice encouraged the federal and provincial governments to negotiate a resolution with Cowichan.
RELATED: First Nation calls B.C. Premier Eby’s comments ‘deliberately inflammatory’
Critics have accused the BC NDP government of not vigorously defending private property rights, including failing to argue that private property extinguishes Aboriginal title (an argument the government says the Supreme Court of Canada has already previously rejected).
The criticism prompted government officials to brief the media on Tuesday to reiterate the arguments it made during the 11-year-long court proceedings.
“This conflict arises because fee simple title and Aboriginal title both entail a right to exclusive use and occupation,” the government said in its legal argument.
“Two sets of mutually exclusive interests cannot exist in the same lands at the same time… It is this legal incompatibility… that the province says results in any asserted Aboriginal interest in the land being effectively suspended for the time that the incompatible legal right to exclusive use and occupation exists.”
Government did not argue that private property “extinguishes” Aboriginal title, but instead that it suspends it.
That’s not good enough, said Opposition BC Conservative leader John Rustad.
“This has now set up the same problem around the province,” said Rustad.
“One-hundred-and-twenty per cent of British Columbia is claimed by First Nations. This is going to be a case that comes to every community, that’s going to come to everybody’s private property, whether it is in the next year or the next decade or two.
“It needs to be resolved, and we need to be able to protect private property rights.”
The Cowichan Nation in a statement this week accused Richmond and the B.C. government of misleading people with their defence.
“To be clear, the Quw’utsun (Cowichan) Nation’s court case regarding their settlement lands at Tl’uqtinus in Richmond has not and does not challenge the effectiveness or validity of any title held by individual private landowners,” the nation said in a statement.
“The ruling does not erase private property.”
However, the lead lawyer for the Cowichan Nation has previously publicly said that an Aboriginal title declaration on someone’s private land may lead to them requiring the consent of the nation before selling it, and compensation of some sort from senior levels of government.
“If any individual private titleholders at Tl’uqtinus are concerned about somehow suffering a loss, they should know their remedy is against British Columbia, the party responsible,” according to the nation’s statement.
The Cowichan Nation said it is not trying to deepen division in the community, and that some of the arguments Richmond and the province are using are contrary to ongoing reconciliation efforts.
Source:
https://cheknews.ca/rob-shaw-b-c-says-a ... s-1286306/
Be the first to know with a daily rundown and news alerts sent straight to your inbox
Posted inNews
Rob Shaw: B.C. says Aboriginal title and private property rights cannot co-exist, Land Title Act might trump Indigenous claims
Avatar photo
by Rob Shaw
October 28, 2025 5:09 pm
Country Meadows Golf Course, which falls within the boundaries of a Cowichan Nation Aboriginal title claim, is seen in an aerial view in Richmond, B.C., on Friday, Aug. 22, 2025. A ruling in B.C. Supreme Court confirmed Cowichan Aboriginal title and fishing rights over a stretch of land on Lulu Island next to the south arm of the Fraser River where the nation had a summer village where members fished for salmon. According to the Cowichan Nation the village was first observed by Hudson's Bay Company officials in 1824 as containing over 108 longhouses. THE CANADIAN
The B.C. government is scrambling to re-assure private property owners that it won’t allow Aboriginal title to supersede their private property rights, as concerned Richmond residents gather for an information session on the issue Tuesday night.
Attorney General Niki Sharma sharpened the government’s position in advance of what is expected to be a heated session, saying she will not accept the B.C. Supreme Court’s conclusion in the recent Cowichan Nation case that Aboriginal title sits above existing private land ownership as a superior title.
RELATED: ‘Why did you not warn us’: Frustration for B.C. land owners at Cowichan case meeting
The two are incompatible and cannot sit on the same piece of land at the same time in their full form, because both appear to grant the holder the exclusive right to use that land, according to the government.
“We will be tackling that question with what will be a very complicated response in terms of our legal arguments,” Sharma said Tuesday. “But at the foremost of it will be the idea that once you have a fee simple title in B.C., it has to mean that those boundaries of that land is your land.
“That that type of legal instrument is very fundamental to our province, and in fact the country,” she added.
Watch the full story below:
The BC Supreme Court ruled in August that the Cowichan Nation had Aboriginal title to more than 800 acres of traditional village territory in what is now the City of Richmond. The justice described Aboriginal title as above the B.C. Land Title Act.
The ruling invalidated some city and federal land titles in the area, but did not invalidate any private property. The justice encouraged the federal and provincial governments to negotiate a resolution with Cowichan.
RELATED: First Nation calls B.C. Premier Eby’s comments ‘deliberately inflammatory’
Critics have accused the BC NDP government of not vigorously defending private property rights, including failing to argue that private property extinguishes Aboriginal title (an argument the government says the Supreme Court of Canada has already previously rejected).
The criticism prompted government officials to brief the media on Tuesday to reiterate the arguments it made during the 11-year-long court proceedings.
“This conflict arises because fee simple title and Aboriginal title both entail a right to exclusive use and occupation,” the government said in its legal argument.
“Two sets of mutually exclusive interests cannot exist in the same lands at the same time… It is this legal incompatibility… that the province says results in any asserted Aboriginal interest in the land being effectively suspended for the time that the incompatible legal right to exclusive use and occupation exists.”
Government did not argue that private property “extinguishes” Aboriginal title, but instead that it suspends it.
That’s not good enough, said Opposition BC Conservative leader John Rustad.
“This has now set up the same problem around the province,” said Rustad.
“One-hundred-and-twenty per cent of British Columbia is claimed by First Nations. This is going to be a case that comes to every community, that’s going to come to everybody’s private property, whether it is in the next year or the next decade or two.
“It needs to be resolved, and we need to be able to protect private property rights.”
The Cowichan Nation in a statement this week accused Richmond and the B.C. government of misleading people with their defence.
“To be clear, the Quw’utsun (Cowichan) Nation’s court case regarding their settlement lands at Tl’uqtinus in Richmond has not and does not challenge the effectiveness or validity of any title held by individual private landowners,” the nation said in a statement.
“The ruling does not erase private property.”
However, the lead lawyer for the Cowichan Nation has previously publicly said that an Aboriginal title declaration on someone’s private land may lead to them requiring the consent of the nation before selling it, and compensation of some sort from senior levels of government.
“If any individual private titleholders at Tl’uqtinus are concerned about somehow suffering a loss, they should know their remedy is against British Columbia, the party responsible,” according to the nation’s statement.
The Cowichan Nation said it is not trying to deepen division in the community, and that some of the arguments Richmond and the province are using are contrary to ongoing reconciliation efforts.
Source:
https://cheknews.ca/rob-shaw-b-c-says-a ... s-1286306/
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