A commentary. Doherty practised law in British Columbia for 35 years, including 18 years acting on behalf of the Crown in Aboriginal law cases, and wrote his PhD thesis on Aboriginal land rights in Canada.

It is commendable that Hamar Foster has written two pieces for the Times Colonist (Aug. 30, Oct. 14) attempting to shed light on the recent Cowichan decision that — if upheld on appeal — could negate much of the land title system by which British Columbians hold private ­property.

Readers may, however, have been left with the impression that the decision of the Supreme Court of British Columbia in Cowichan was inevitable and that result followed from the 1888 St. Catherine’s Milling and Lumber Co. decision.

In that 1888 case, the Government of Canada had attempted to argue that the Ojibbeway “had, and were always recognized as having, a complete proprietary interest,” but Canada lost the case and Ontario won.

Although the court did not express an opinion about the “precise quality of the Indian right,” it disagreed........

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