Subhead:Bruce Pardy asserts that private ownership cannot exist on land under Aboriginal title.#
In 2024, both B.C. and Ottawa recognized the Haida Nation’s Aboriginal title to their West Coast archipelago, setting a dangerous precedent beyond Haida Gwaii, according to Bruce Pardy, a legal academic.
“The agreements tell two conflicting stories,” Pardy writes in a Financial Post column. “One is that … Colonial occupation has ended and Haida Gwaii will now be governed in accordance with Haida Aboriginal title. But the second story is that private property will still be honoured, … and the province will still provide and pay for health, education, transportation and fire and emergency services.”
“The agreements say private property on Haida Gwaii will be honoured. But private property is incompatible with Aboriginal title.”
