When British Columbians next go to the polls, the election will be fought over the endless quagmires of reconciliation, affordability, and addiction. It will also be fought over property rights, and that issue promises to overshadow all the others.
Do British Columbians actually own the property they have purchased? The question has gone unanswered since last summer, when the B.C. Supreme Court ruled that Aboriginal title was senior to fee simple in the Cowichan case. Now, that same question has escaped B.C.’s borders and become an issue in Ottawa.
Last month, the Conservative Party of Canada forced a vote on an opposition motion that called on the federal government to put private property first in its litigation of the Cowichan case. It contained demands to replace federal litigation guidance that Conservatives say softens the defence of property rights, require explicit protections for fee simple property in future First Nations agreements, and strike a special committee on private property rights.
Unfortunately, the motion was defeated 199 to 139, but it shows how B.C.’s property rights battle has spilled beyond the province, and with good reason. In fact, property rights are the biggest issue to hit B.C. politics since COVID-19.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, then-Premier John Horgan’s management of the crisis saw him ride a wave of immense public trust to a historic majority. Horgan won that majority by calling an opportunistic snap election, but that is politics. During the campaign, the Angus Reid Institute found that the B.C. New Democratic Party (NDP) held a staggering 18-point lead, with voters trusting the party on COVID-19, health care, and housing.
Read the full article at National Post: Eby’s gross mishandling of property rights is uniting the province against him.