OTTAWA — The Supreme Court of Canada has upheld a ruling that Aboriginal title cannot be declared over private land, in a decision the federal government says will have an impact on the Cowichan Tribes case in British Columbia.
The refusal by Canada’s high court to hear a First Nation’s appeal against the decision in New Brunswick is in contrast to the landmark Cowichan ruling by B.C.’s Supreme Court that has cast doubt on the primacy of private property rights.
The Crown-Indigenous Relations Department says the ruling will inform arguments in other cases, including Cowichan, adding that “private property rights are fundamental.”
In the New Brunswick decision, an Appeal Court judge said a declaration of Aboriginal title over privately owned lands “would sound the death knell of reconciliation with the interests of non-Aboriginal Canadians.”
The Wolastoqey Nation had sought leave to appeal that ruling but it was denied by the Supreme Court of Canada on Thursday.
The B.C. government and other parties, including the City of Richmond, B.C., are meanwhile appealing the Cowichan Tribes decision involving Crown, city and private land on the Fraser River, which ruled Aboriginal title was a “senior interest” compared with fee-simple title.
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