The provincial government is planning to appeal a B.C. Supreme Court decision that granted the Cowichan Tribes fishing rights and title over part of Lulu Island in the mouth of the Fraser River.
"We disagree strongly with the decision," Attorney General Niki Sharma announced in a news release on Monday afternoon (Aug. 11). "British Columbia will be filing an appeal and seeking a stay to pause implementation until the appeal is resolved."
The decision granting title to the Cowichan Tribes . The Tribes 鈥� part of Vancouver Island's Quw鈥檜tsun Nation 鈥� successfully argued in court that it once had a semi-permanent village at the location called Tl'uqtinus, located on the south shore of Lulu and within what is now the City of Richmond.
This area includes land currently owned by the Crown, city, port authority and private third parties. The decision grants Aboriginal title to the Cowichan Tribes for the public portions of these lands, while declaring that B.C. has a duty to "negotiate in good faith reconciliation" of the private holdings and land used by the Vancouver airport for fuel delivery.
The Cowichan Tribes were also awarded the right to fish the south arm of the Fraser River.
Sharma said the government is concerned the case could have unintended consequences by setting a precedent that overrules private property rights.
"Our government is committed to protecting and upholding private property rights, while advancing the critical work of reconciliation," she said. "This case is an example of why the province prefers to resolve land claims through negotiation - where we can protect property rights directly - rather than risk considerable uncertainty through court decisions."
Sharma said her team is working through what they think are "quite a few grounds of appeal," as they prepare their filing.
"In the meantime, we are open to sitting down with Nations in this province to make sure that we can come to an agreement in a more certain way through our reconciliation work," she said in a press conference after the announcement was made.
B.C. Conservative Attorney General critic Steve Kooner 鈥� also the MLA for Richmond鈥擰ueensborough, which is close to where the land in question is located 鈥� said the appeal needs to be filed as soon as possible because the decision has the potential to otherwise cause uncertainty in the province's real estate market.
"Our perspective is that the appeal needs to be filed immediately," Kooner said. "They should not sit on their hands, they should file this appeal immediately because it has it has a lot of consequences."
Kooner added that this case has been ongoing for six years, and the government has not been "proactive" enough to resolve it before it got to this point.