By Ashley Joannou The lawyer representing the Cowichan Nation in British Columbia says the provincial government must reconcile private property rights with a landmark court ruling that the nation has Aboriginal title over land on the Fraser River in Metro Vancouver. The BC Supreme Court ruled last week that the fee-simple ownership and interests in the lands, held by Canada, Richmond and the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, “are defective and invalid,” but did not make a similar ruling for privately owned property. However, the ruling says B.C. owes a duty to the Cowichan to negotiate in good faith the reconciliation of Crown-granted private property on a portion of Lulu Island in Richmond, land that Cowichan ancestors used as a summer home. Lawyer David Robbins says the nation is looking forward…
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