Two days of meetings in British Columbia between provincial officials and First Nations leadership are under way amid tensions over a landmark Aboriginal-title court ruling. The province says the 10th B.C. Cabinet and First Nations Leaders’ Gathering will involve more than 1,300 meetings aimed at advancing government-to-government relationships. Those relationships have been strained after a B.C. Supreme Court judge ruled in August that the Cowichan Tribes have Aboriginal title over about 750 acres on the Fraser River, that Crown and city titles on the land are defective and invalid, and the granting of private titles on it by the government unjustifiably infringed Cowichan title. Premier David Eby says getting clarification from the Court of Appeal is important when it comes to more than just the affected landowners, saying the land… <\/p>\n
Two days of meetings in British Columbia between provincial officials and First Nations leadership are under way amid tensions over a landmark Aboriginal-title court ruling. The province says the 10th B.C. Cabinet and First Nations Leaders’ Gathering will involve more than 1,300 meetings aimed at advancing government-to-government relationships. Those relationships have been strained after a B.C. Supreme Court judge ruled in August that the Cowichan Tribes have Aboriginal title over about 750 acres on the Fraser River, that Crown and city titles on the land are defective and invalid, and the granting of private titles on it by the government unjustifiably infringed Cowichan title. Premier David Eby says getting clarification from the Court of Appeal is important when it comes to more than just the affected landowners, saying the land... <\/p>\n