Federal Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre weighed in on the Aboriginal title debate during a news conference in B.C. Thursday, calling on Prime Minister Mark Carney to ensure fee simple property rights take priority over all others. “We want the government to officially reinsert the argument that private property comes first,” said Poilievre, referring to instructions to federal lawyers in the appeal of the recent Cowichan Tribes case. That B.C. Supreme Court decision found Aboriginal title senior to fee simple rights, leaving many Richmond homeowners concerned for the future of their properties—but it has been appealed by the B.C. NDP. Asked about Poilievre’s remarks, Premier David Eby said it was “not helpful to have a federal politician drop into town for a YouTube clip and a headline, to distract from members of his caucus leaving his team,” referring to recent defections of Conservative MPs to the Liberals. Terry Teeggee with the First Nations Leadership Council also responded to Poilievre’s visit. “This is a lot of dog-whistling and fear-mongering to rile up his base,” he said. Questions surrounding Indigenous rights have become increasingly controversial in B.C. First Nations leaders held an emergency meeting Thursday afternoon to respond to Eby’s plan to pause parts of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, legislation cited by the court in a recent mining case favouring Indigenous rights. “Like any multi-pronged approach or strategy, everything is on the table,” Robert Phillips with he First Nations Summitt told CTV News Thursday. “(Things) have really soured in terms of not trusting what the premier’s going to do next.” Jen Riley with the B.C. Chamber of Commerce says the organization supports reconciliation, and also supports either pausing parts of DRIPA or repealing it altogether as the B.C. Conservatives have proposed – options it says provide more certainty for business than the present status quo. “Anything that’s moving in the direction of making it easier for businesses in the communtities across the province to feel like they have certainty in their own local communities, on how they can run their businesses is a good thing,” she said.
