Supreme Court land title ruling may affect First Nations financing – The Globe and Mail
A landmark legal decision by the Supreme Court of Canada involving aboriginal title is raising speculation about whether it could affect financing for native groups.
A June decision by the Supreme Court of Canada affirmed aboriginal title to a specific tract of land for the Tsilhqot’in Nation, leading some to question whether the title could be used as leverage to obtain financing or negotiate with companies that want to build, say, a wind or hydro-power project on the land in question.
“Before [the ruling], we had two types of land in the province – fee simple … and Crown land,” David Austin, a Vancouver lawyer who has worked extensively in the energy sector, said in a recent interview. “We now have a third concept – aboriginal title land.”
The Supreme Court of Canada in June confirmed the Tsilhqot’in Nation holds aboriginal title to nearly 2,000 square kilometres of land in interior B.C.
