The Supreme Court of Canada has let stand a ruling in an aboriginal title case from New Brunswick that could strengthen protections for private landowners in indigenous land title disputes.
The top court on May 28 declined to hear an appeal by the Wolastoqey Nation against a decision by the New Brunswick Court of Appeal in December of last year.
The lower-court ruling found that aboriginal title claims affecting privately owned land can’t proceed if the landowners themselves are not parties to the case and therefore have no opportunity to defend their interests.
The Supreme Court ruling will help shape legal arguments in other proceedings such as the Cowichan case in British Columbia, according to the federal Crown-Indigenous Relations department, which emphasized that “private property rights are fundamental.”…