Musqueam and City of Richmond file notices of appeal after Cowichan Tribes ruling

The Musqueam Indian Band and the City of Richmond each say they are appealing the recent B.C. Supreme Court decision that found another First Nation government holds Aboriginal title for land and fishing rights in an area of Metro Vancouver.

The ruling last month granted the Cowichan Tribes Aboriginal title over a portion of almost 7 1/2 square kilometres of land they claimed in Richmond, B.C., as well as fishing rights along a stretch of the south arm of the Fraser River.

The ruling declares Crown and city titles to be “defective and invalid,” and while the Cowichan Tribes did not seek the same designation for private land titles, Justice Barbara Young found granting them had unjustifiably infringed on Cowichan title.

The Musqueam and Tsawwassen First Nations, along with the federal an