Conservative MLA Scott McInnis Calls on Premier Eby to Clarify Private Property Rights on Haida Gwaii After Covert Court Declaration
BC Govt News -- April 2024 Conservative MLA Scott McInnis, Deputy Critic for Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation, is calling on Premier David Eby to immediately clarify whether private property rights on Haida Gwaii remain valid after his government supported a court declaration embedding Aboriginal title into the Constitution, just weeks after the Cowichan Tribes judgment removed statutory protections for fee-simple land. In 2024 , the Eby government negotiated and legislated recognition of Aboriginal title to 100 per cent of Haida Gwaii , including private property, assuring residents that statutory protections under the Land Title Act would safeguard fee-simple land. In August 2025 , the Cowichan Tribes judgment ruled that sections 23 and 25 of the Land Title Act do not apply to Aboriginal title , effectively nullifying those protections. Despite knowing this, Premier Eby supported a September 4 court declaratio n that constitutionalized Aboriginal title ...