Overview

• The B.C. government has formally appealed Justice Barbara Young’s 863-page decision and asked for a stay to pause recognition of Cowichan Aboriginal title pending higher-court review.
• Entities including the City of Richmond, the federal government and the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority are evaluating their legal options under 30-day appeal deadlines.
• Justice Young’s judgment declared certain Crown-held land titles defective or invalid and affirmed Cowichan title over about 7.5 square kilometres of ancestral Tl’uqtinus lands plus constitutionally protected fishing rights in the Fraser River.
• Legal analysts caution that if upheld, the decision could undermine the indefeasibility of fee-simple ownership and unsettle property owners, mortgages and investments province-wide.
• Defendants now face a choice between negotiating reconciliation agreements under an 18-month transition framework or pursuing further litigation up to the Supreme Court of Canada.