Proposed class action lawsuit alleges Cowichan ruling caused economic, psychological harm

A proposed class action lawsuit is going after the federal and provincial governments over the Cowichan land title dispute.

The proposed lawsuit alleges both levels of government had “long-standing” knowledge that unresolved Indigenous land claims threatened the security of property ownership in Canada.

The lawsuit alleges the recent court decision recognizing the Cowichan Tribes’ title over a swath of property in Richmond has caused economic and psychological harm.

It alleges that the government “continued to assure the public that the title registered under the Land Title Act was safe, marketable and free from material qualification,” despite knowing about potential problems.

The federal and provincial governments are appealing the B.C. Supreme Court’s ruling in favour of the Quw’utsun Nation, or Cowichan Nation, that found it had “established Aboriginal title” to more than 5.7 square kilometres of land on the Fraser River in Richmond, south of Vancouver.

The City of Richmond has also joined the appeal.

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The ruling declared Crown and city titles on the land are “defective and invalid,” and the granting of private titles on it by the government unjustifiably infringed on the Cowichan title.

That has created confusion and anger among homeowners in the affected area, despite the Cowichan Tribes insisting it has no intention of stripping private title holders of their property.

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B.C.’s Attorney General Niki Sharma was asked on Wednesday if the homeowners should have been notified earlier that this was happening and the potential consequences.

“In fact, we asked the court to do the exact same thing in the trial,” she said.

“We told the court we think you should notify or the Cowichan should notify third-party landowners in the case. The court told us in that application there was no need because there would be no impacts to third-party landowners.”

BC Conservative Leader John Rustad said this proposed class action lawsuit could go beyond Richmond.

“The real question in my mind around this is should every household in the province should join into this class action suit, because this is not going to be just about Richmond,” he said.

“This is happening across the province and people want to know, ‘Are my private property rights being protected?'”

Sharma said the province is sitting down with the Cowichan Nation to get to a resolution and certainty through the court system, along with continuing to reach out to landowners.