OTTAWA — NDP leadership contender Avi Lewis dismisses concerns over conflicts between Indigenous title claims and private property rights in British Columbia’s Lower Mainland, despite owning two properties there.
Lewis stated Thursday that a B.C. Supreme Court decision from last summer, affirming the Cowichan Nation’s title over lands near Vancouver, presents no risk to private holdings. Although he has not reviewed the full ruling, he cited various analyses emphasizing the court’s protection of fee simple ownership.
“The decision itself is very long. I’ve read lots of analysis of it, and my impression is, I think the court went out of its way to say that fee simple ownership is not challenged by the decision,” Lewis explained.
Key Details of the Court Ruling
Issued in August 2025, the ruling acknowledges Aboriginal title across 3.25 square kilometers in Richmond, B.C., covering properties held by governments and private owners alike. The court held that fee simple titles and Aboriginal title can exist together, creating potential uncertainty for landowners who retain ownership but share claims.
Lewis frames the outcome as a natural step in reconciliation efforts. “The easy part of reconciliation, the performative part, is in the past now. Now it’s going to be about working out title of the land. And this is largely done by governments and nation-to-nation negotiation,” he noted.
He blames heightened anxiety on political tactics. “My own personal feeling is that a lot of fear was whipped up, unnecessarily, for political advantage in the conservative movement in British Columbia,” Lewis added.
Lewis’s Properties in the Region
Lewis and his wife, author Naomi Klein, spend much of the year in Vancouver, teaching at the University of British Columbia’s Point Grey campus. The couple also keeps a family home in Halfmoon Bay, a remote spot on the Sunshine Coast reachable only by ferry or floatplane. In 2025, the average single-detached home in the lower Sunshine Coast sold for $901,000, per the Greater Vancouver Realtors Association.
Premier Eby’s Strong Opposition
B.C. Premier David Eby takes a different stance, as his government joins the federal authorities and City of Richmond in appealing the decision. In December, Eby unveiled $150 million in loan guarantees to support impacted private owners. He condemned the court for endangering economic stability and pledged reforms to provincial laws implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
This week, Eby defended his position amid reports of a federal pact with the Musqueam First Nation, granting Aboriginal title over significant portions of Greater Vancouver. He insisted he received no prior notice.
Lewis chose not to comment on the appeal.
