A major row has begun in BC’s Richmond in Canada as landowners have been told they might lose the ownership because the land belongs to the Cowichan Tribes.
Homeowners in British Columbia’s Richmond are left at lurch after they received a letter from the City of Richmond informing them that their land may not belong to them as BC Supreme Court ruling decided that the land might belong to Cowichan Tribes who have established Aboriginal title to roughly 800 acres in the city as well as an Aboriginal right to fish for food. The ruling declared private owenership and interetss held by federal government and the City of Richmond in thel lands to be “defective and invalid”. While the legal issue is complicated, the letter signed by mayor Malcolm Brodie, is the main cause of concern for the homeowners as they said they were not aware about this developments and they don’t know what to do. They said they never thought something like this would ever come up.Also Read: Canada landowners receive bizarre notice: ‘Your home is not yours because…’British Columbia’s opposition leader John Rustad demanded the government to immediately pause all negitiations with First Naions in the Province. “You dismissed these warnings, including during the leaders’ debate last year when you said, ‘Nothing could be further from the truth,’” Rustad said. “What British Columbians were told could never happen is now unfolding before their eyes.”
The Richmond Council sent letters to landowners that if their property falls in the black area, there might be some dispute.
What will happen to Richmoind land owners?
“For those whose property is in the area outlined in black, the Court has declared aboriginal title to your property which may compromise the status and validity of your ownershi,” said Mayor Malcolm Brodie in the letter to some land owners. As of now, the land in the disputed area is owned by Ottawa, the BC government, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, the City of Richmond and private third parties. “We understand homeowners’ concerns and want to be clear: the Province will always uphold people’s ability to freely buy, sell, and mortgage private property. The Province made this clear to the Court and is committed to upholding and protecting fee simple private property,” BC attorney general Niki Sharma said.The City of Richmond is hosting an information session on October 28 at City Hall for land owners to ask questions and voice their concerns.
Who are the Cowichan Tribes?
According to Globe and Mail, the Cowichan Tribes habe their jhome territory on Vancourver Island. For past centuries, they traveled en masse to the area on the south arm of the Fraser Rover where they had an annual summer fishing village. They were displaced from the village in the mid-1800s as the British took control and, after B.C. joined Canada, the land was sold over the years.
