A landmark court ruling in British Columbia regarding Aboriginal land title over urban lands has ignited fierce debate and uncertainty over the future of private property rights in the province and across the country.

The federal and provincial governments are appealing the B.C. Supreme Court’s ruling in favour of the Quw’utsun Nation, or Cowichan Nation , that found it had “established Aboriginal title” to more than 5.7 square kilometres of land on the Fraser River in Richmond, south of Vancouver.

The City of Richmond has also joined the appeal.

The ruling declared Crown and city titles on the land are “defective and invalid,” and the granting of private titles on it by the government unjustifiably infringed on the Cowichan title.

That has created confusion and anger among homeown

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