What does the Cowichan win really mean for Richmond residents?

From boardrooms to newsrooms, a recent legal decision has become the epicentre of a controversy around private property and Aboriginal title. In August, the B.C. Supreme Court ruled that the Cowichan tribes have Aboriginal title rights over a portion of the land on the Fraser River. It also ruled that Crown and city titles on the land are defective, and the granting of private titles by the government unjustifiably infringed on Cowichan title. The decision swiftly made national and international headlines. Pundits pondered whether Richmond residents would lose their homes. In late October, the Cowichan issued a statement to confront growing misinformation around the case. “To be clear,” the statement says, “the 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 ruling does not erase private property.” However, that didn’t stop residents, politicians and legal analysts from speculating about what the decision could mean for Richmond landowners. Lawyer Kate Gunn of First Peoples Law in Vancouver, B.C., has been following the case closely. “The thing that I’ve really noticed over the past couple of weeks is how much this decision and the outcome of it really is testing the public’s commitment to reconciliation,” Gunn said on InFocus. This week on InFocus, she gives us a legal crash course on the decision and what it could mean for future title cases. Listen now on your favourite player. Continue Reading