CHARBONNEAU – I believe the people of the Cowichan Tribes

FEAR HAS BEEN STOKED that the Cowichan Tribes are going to seize properties on a piece of land awarded them by the B.C. Supreme Court.

I believe the Cowichan Tribes when they say that they won’t.

While the court case took more than 500 days over a period of nearly five years, the case is relatively simple:

The B.C. government sold lands that didn’t belong to them.

James Douglas, governor of British Columbia in 1858, didn’t want it that way. He told the Cowichan people that their land by the Fraser river would be a future Indian reserve.

It never happened. The Cowichan lands were later sold to settlers, without Cowichan consent or even their knowledge. Ironically, the first purchaser was Richard Moody, Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works, who was in charge of establishing the reserve.

Imagine that you bought a house from someone who had acquired title to the house through identity theft (it happens). Then the real owner shows up. You’re worried that the real owner will kick you out, but to your surprise says you can stay.

Some find it incredulous that the Cowichan Tribes don’t intend to occupy the houses and industrial sites on the small piece of land.

The outcry in the media suggests that a takeover is imminent. The National Post warned:

“B.C. Supreme Court takes an axe to private property rights.

“Think you own your private property? Well think again, as a recent court decision has thrown the entire basis of property ownership into chaos in British Columbia.”

The mayor of Richmond added to the panic when he sent 150 letters to properties in the area that said the ruling: “may compromise the status and validity of your ownership.”

In an interview, Mayor Brodie said: “I think it potentially could dismantle the land title system, certainly in our province, with ramifications across the country.”

Really? Can I expect Indigenous people to come knocking at my door, asking for the keys to my home?

The answer is no. The Cowichan Tribes have made it clear, both in the court case and in subsequent statements that they have no intention of seizing properties that were illegally given to settlers 150 years ago.

A lawyer representing the Cowichan Tribes says he is “frustrated and disappointed” with what he calls “misinformation” about his clients’ groundbreaking Aboriginal title case. He goes on to say that his clients are not targeting privately held land in the title area on the Fraser River.

So, what do the Cowichan Tribes intend if not to seize what was previously private property?

The lawyer says that if the province negotiates in good faith, the “likely outcome” is a treaty recognizing Aboriginal title while allowing private owners to continue to hold fee-simple title (private ownership).

The judge in the case found that property ownership and Aboriginal title could co-exist: neither is absolute. Aboriginal title is, to be sure, “senior” to fee simple, and would dominate.

Exactly how that would occur would be left to further negotiations, notably between the Crown and the relevant aboriginal title holders.

I believe the Cowichan Tribes, not just because that’s their stated intention but because an incursion of Indigenous people into people’s homes would lead to civil unrest.

David Charbonneau is a retired TRU electronics instructor who hosts a blog at http://www.eyeviewkamloops.wordpress.com.