There are 86 lawyers listed on the first page of the reasons for judgment in the B.C. Supreme Court decision on the Cowichan Tribes’ Aboriginal title case.

So right off the bat, you know that the monumental decision on the 11-year-old case is not the end of the matter.

The Cowichan were represented by 25 lawyers. The federal government used 17, the Musqueam Band had 14, B.C. supplied 11, Vancouver Port Authority had eight, Richmond had seven, and the Tsawwassen First Nation had four.

The first response of all seven parties involved in the case was to appeal. So the conclusion isn’t really a conclusion at all.

It’s going to take years before the issues raised in the decision are even addressed, let alone resolved. Time will turn out to be a big factor shaping the outcome.

It could be a window to do what every major Aboriginal title decision for years has urged: Negotiate some 21st-century arrangements to resolve these issues finally and completely, outside the courts.

But the downside is a long period of uncertainty over whether governments have........

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