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LILLEY: Private property versus Aboriginal title just got more complicated

Carney government's deal with Musqueam Indian Band rightly leaves Vancouver-area residents concerned

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Homeowners in the Vancouver area should know that the title to their land hasn’t been taken away from them by the Mark Carney government. That said, an expert in constitutional law and Indigenous rights said he understands why people are anxious when they hear about the recently signed agreement between Ottawa and the Musqueam Indian Band in the Vancouver area.

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Appearing on the latest episode of the Full Comment podcast for Postmedia, Dwight Newman, a professor of law at the University of Saskatchewan and the Canada research chair in rights, communities and constitutional law, said there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding the Feb. 20 agreement.

LILLEY: Private property versus Aboriginal title just got more complicated Back to video

“I think it would be fair for homeowners to have some questions and have a little bit of concern,” Newman said. “But some of the accounts where all of their homes have already been transferred to the Musqueam vastly overstate the issue.”

Reason for homeowners to be concerned

On Feb. 20, during a Friday afternoon when most people had checked out for the weekend, the Carney government announced what it called “Historic Agreements Recognizing Rights, Stewardship and Fisheries.” The part that had people wondering about their home, land or business ownership was where the federal government signed an agreement giving right and title to the Musqueam Indian Band to pretty much all of the land in Vancouver, West Vancouver, Burnaby and Richmond and much of Delta.

“The purposes of this agreement are to: (a) recognize Musqueam’s Rights and Title within Musqueam Territory; (b) demonstrate progress in incrementally implementing Musqueam’s Rights and Title,” the document says.

That part of the agreement and many others have left Vancouver-area residents unsure about the future. The phrase “rights and title” has a very specific meaning that denotes ownership, which understandably has many people wondering about the repercussions.

“These agreements do not impact private property,” Crown Indigenous Relations Minister Rebecca Alty said in a post on X last week.

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These agreements do not impact private property.This is preferred to the more uncertain alternative of determining Musqueam’s Aboriginal title through the courts. By negotiating we are able to uphold existing property rights and advance reconciliation. https://t.co/MTEzB9DNZC— Rebecca Alty (@RebeccaAltyNWT) March 3, 2026

These agreements do not impact private property.This is preferred to the more uncertain alternative of determining Musqueam’s Aboriginal title through the courts. By negotiating we are able to uphold existing property rights and advance reconciliation. https://t.co/MTEzB9DNZC

That’s nice and so too is a statement from Musqueam Chief Wayne Sparrow saying they aren’t coming for anyone’s private property. The problem is that words in legal documents have meaning and a court could easily see the words in this document meaning something different down the road.

“There’s this cloud of uncertainty,” Newman said.

So many questions, so few answers

All of this is taking place against the backdrop of the Cowichan Tribes v. Canada court decision last year that granted the Cowichan Tribes rights and title over more than 7.5 sq. km, more than 1,800 acres, of land in Richmond, B.C. That land is now land that the Musqueam has been given rights and title to in their agreement with the Carney government.

The Musqueam are appealing the Cowichan court decision, saying it infringes on their land. Meanwhile, the Squamish Nation is challenging the Musqueam agreement saying that it infringes on their traditional territory.

In the background, homeowners and businesses throughout the Vancouver area wonder what any of this means for them and the land that they think they own.

After the Cowichan decision, there were also claims that nothing would impact private property owners. Yet, the British Columbia government ended up putting forward a $150-million fund to assist landowners after banks and other lenders said mortgages in the area were in question.

Courts are making things less clear, not more

Newman said that in the Cowichan case, Justice Barbara M. Young made the argument that Aboriginal title and private property ownership, called fee simple title, can coexist.

“She says at one point that the two can coexist, which doesn’t make sense, because each is an exclusive ownership of the land and two people can’t both exclusively own the exact same thing,” Newman said.

Newman points out that the New Brunswick Court of Appeal shut down an attempt by the Wolastoqey Nation to try to claim Aboriginal title over private land rather than Crown land. That is the opposite of what was decided in B.C. in the Cowichan decision and Newman believes this will end up at the Supreme Court.

“We might see the Supreme Court of Canada engage with this question sooner than later if they decide to hear an appeal,” he said.

Newman admitted that there is a lot of complication and uncertainty and that is unlikely to change for the foreseeable future as these cases work their way through the system.

Bottom line: You haven’t lost the title to your home, but that doesn’t mean you won’t.

EDITORIAL: Divisive land claims create uncertainty

Musqueam say only federal lands in play under rights agreement with Canada

LILLEY: Who owns Vancouver after agreement with Musqueam Indian Band?

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