Paul Woitowitsch has lived in his Richmond home for about 30 years.
The 88-year-old’s home is one within the 5.7 square kilometres of urban lands within the City of Richmond that the Quw’utsun Nation, or Cowichan Nation, “established Aboriginal title” in a landmark court ruling.
Since the ruling was announced, there has been a lot of confusion about the case and what it means for residents who hold private property.
“We don’t get the full impact of what’s really happening,” Woitowitsch said.
“How serious. Yeah, and I was at the meeting and, yeah, we found out some things and some not, yeah. There was a lot of anger flying around.”
Debate over the ruling was reignited earlier this month after the City of Richmond sent a letter to a group of 150 property owners in the land claim area, warning them that the case could compromise the validity of their ownership.
A packed and tense information session in the city this week heard from hundreds of frustrated residents and property owners about the fate of their titles.
Woitowitsch said he feels like he and his wife are in limbo.
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“My wife… her father owned this land for many years before that,” he said. “He came here after the First World War and established himself here.”
In a statement to Global News, the Ministry of the Attorney General said
“There is no change to property sale procedures. It is important that people continue to be able to buy and sell freely and access mortgages. The province was clear on this with the court and is committed to upholding and protecting fee simple private property.”
The Cowichan have accused Eby and other officials of spreading “misinformation” about the ruling, because their case did not seek to overturn private property titles.
“The ruling does not erase private property,” a statement from the Cowichan this week said.
Adam Wachtel, a realtor with the Patti Martin team at Re/Max West Coast, told Global News earlier this week that homeowners have been left in a period of uncertainty.
“We heard stories about some people going through the refinancing process right now, and mortgages and banks are uncertain with how they’re gonna proceed with refinancing,” he said.
“So right now, that really calls into question, can you get refinancing on your home? And if you can’t get refinancing, then what do you do? Well, you have some private lenders, interest rates gonna be huge… So it’s a waiting game right now. Everyone still owns their home, they still own the land, but it’s just a position of uncertainty.”
On Thursday, Richmond, Coun. Alexa Loo said she has heard from a Richmond manufacturing company that has been refused financing for a $100 million project due to the Cowichan Nation’s land ruling case.
However, the bank, National Bank, denied in a statement that the Cowichan case was a factor in its financing decision.
“No guidelines have been issued by the Bank in this regard,” the statement read.
–with files from Sean Boynton / Global News
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