VICTORIA, B.C.: A B.C. Supreme Court decision dismissing a private company’s bid to reopen the Cowichan Aboriginal title case has exposed a crisis that goes far beyond one company’s legal fight.

Justice Barbara Young ruled this week that Montrose Properties, a Richmond company that owns land within the claimed Cowichan title area, came too late to the case and would have to pursue an appeal instead.

But the ruling leaves untouched a far more dangerous problem: private land was swept into an Aboriginal title declaration for the first time in Canadian history, and the people who own it were never told it was happening.

This is not just a legal dispute over land. It is a question of who controls British Columbia.

“Private landowners should not have to fight their way into a finished court case because the NDP government abandoned the field and failed to properly defend property ownership from the start. Nobody warned this company their land was on the line, and by the time they found out, the courtroom door was already shut,” said Scott McInnis, MLA for Columbia River-Revelstoke and Critic for Indigenous Relations.

“A company spent millions building on land it believed was secure, only to find out years later that its title was in question.”

McInnis is demanding that the NDP act now before even more property and business owners are left in the same position. “The NDP needs to remove the litigation directives blocking the Crown from even arguing extinguishment in defence of private property owners.

“They need to bring forward legislation to protect property rights in this province and lobby Ottawa for constitutional guardrails before more of this gets decided in a courtroom with homeowners locked outside the door.

“And, they need to immediately disclose every Aboriginal title claim currently before the courts or in negotiation, so people can come forward and get into litigation at the earliest possible stage, not when it’s too late.”

Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Leader of the Conservative Party of B.C., said this case exposes exactly what’s at risk: the sovereignty of the province itself. “At its core, this is about who controls British Columbia,” said Ms. Findlay.

“We’re talking about title claims that could reach the streets people drive on, the parks their kids play in, the rivers, the ports, the highways, the hiking trails. If the NDP won’t even tell people when their property is on the table, how can anyone trust it to defend the sovereignty of this province at all?” continued Ms. Findlay.

“This is about whether British Columbia remains one province, governed by one set of laws, where every person stands on equal footing. The NDP has let that certainty erode, piece by piece. A Conservative government will restore clarity, defend the rule of law, and move this province forward. This province belongs to all of us. It’s time we stood together, as equals,” the Leader of the Conservative Party concluded.

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Media Contact:
Nikki Bal
Conservative.Communications@leg.bc.ca
+1 (672) 922-0948