Mr. Speaker, British Columbians are living with uncertainty about whether the homes they worked their whole lives to buy are truly theirs. Businesses are hearing from their commercial lenders that they cannot just assume that they can take their fee simple security to the bank.
Between the Cowichan Tribes decision and the Musqueam agreements, Liberal and NDP governments have cast doubt on fee simple private property rights for thousands of Canadians. Reconciliation matters, but it cannot be pursued through legal confusion. The Cowichan case may take years to reach the Supreme Court of Canada, leaving families and businesses in limbo.
The Liberals say they will appeal, but here is the problem: They had instructed their lawyers not to argue at trial that fee simple title supersedes all other titles and interests. Appeals are not do-overs, so how do they expect to win an appeal on arguments they are not entitled to raise? How are they going to restore confidence in home ownership and fee simple security, now that they have dropped the ball?