Cowichan Tribes v. Canada

Common card · No. 310255

Cowichan Tribes v. Canada is a decision by the Supreme Court of British Columbia establishing that the Cowichan Tribes have Aboriginal title to approximately 732 acres of a riverine area in the city of Richmond. The decision was made, in part, on the basis that the disputed land had been used exclusively as a Cowichan summer fishing village in 1846, the date of assertion of British sovereignty over what later became British Columbia, Canada. All parties involved in the case have expressed their intention to appeal to the British Columbia Court of Appeal. For the area over which the decision awarded the Cowichan Aboriginal land title, the court declared that the land titles of the national government and the City of Richmond were "defective and invalid" meaning that, if the ruling is upheld on appeal, the Cowichan could eventually take control of the land and use it as they see fit. The court suspended its declaration for 18 months since it "will change a long-established status quo and...

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