Premier David Eby and key First Nations leaders did their best Tuesday morning to smooth over differences over the province’s appeal of the B.C. Supreme Court’s Cowichan decision finding Aboriginal title on a Richmond acreage beside the Fraser River.

It was a major victory for the Cowichan Nation, but the subsequent appeal rankled Indigenous leaders, and some uneasiness is still apparent.

More than a thousand people are attending the 10th annual First Nations Leaders’ Gathering in Vancouver, and Eby and three chiefs took media questions at the outset.

The Cowichan decision raised questions about 150 privately owned properties in the title area. That prompted B.C. to immediately appeal the decision, out of fear that any uncertainty about private property rights could destabilize the provincial economy.

Although the private lands are not directly impacted by the decision, the questions have intensified in recent weeks.

Eby tried to straddle the differences about the appeal. He recognized the injustice that was done to the Cowichan and respected their right to spend decades in court fighting the issue.

But he said B.C.........

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