The lawyer representing the Cowichan Tribes says he is "frustrated and disappointed" with what he calls "misinformation" about his clients' ground-breaking Aboriginal title case in Richmond, B.C.

David Rosenberg says his clients are not targetting privately held land in the title area on the Fraser River and that if the province negotiates in good faith, the "likely outcome" is a treaty recognizing Aboriginal title while allowing private owners to continue to hold fee-simple title.

He cites a recent letter from the city telling private owners in the title area that the ruling may compromise the "status and validity" of their own title rights, saying his clients aren't seeking any remedy that would extinguish fee-simple title that is Canada's most common form of property ownership.

He says the Cowichan instead want the province to "do the right thing" and "negotiate honourably."

The August ruling in B.C. Supreme Court says the tribes have Aboriginal title over a portion of the land on the Fraser River, that Crown and city titles on the land are defective, and the granting of private titles by the government unjustifiably infringed on Cowichan title.

It says the province owes a duty to the Cowichan to negotiate in good faith how to reconcile Crown-granted private ownership with Aboriginal title.

Rosenberg says the Cowichan "stands with the land owners" and are empathic to them because his clients have also been frustrated by "inactivity" from the provincial government to deal with this matter.

He said the history of the Cowichan title area involved "extreme circumstances" in which then Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works Richard Moody purchased land that was supposed to have been set aside for a reserve for the Cowichan Tribes in the 1800s.

Rosenberg warned against applying the situation of this "tremendous injustice" to all fee-simple lands across British Columbia or Canada.

British Columbia, the City of Richmond and the Musqueam First Nation have said they will appeal the ruling, while the city's letter invites owners to an Oct. 28 meeting on the issue.

B.C. Conservative leader John Rustad has called on Premier David Eby to ask the Supreme Court of Canada for an immediate ruling on whether Aboriginal title can coexist with private property rights, but Rosenberg says this is "unrealistic."

He says Canada's highest court would want a full record from the original trial court and the appeals court before taking up the case. 

– Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press