Parliament Hill is viewed below a Canada flag in Gatineau, Que. Photo by Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press files

A judge of the British Columbia Supreme Court recently found that the Cowichan First Nation holds Aboriginal title over 800 acres of government land in Richmond, B.C. But that’s not all. Wherever Aboriginal title is found to exist, said the court, it is a “prior and senior right” to fee simple title, whether public or private. That means it trumps the property you have in your house, farm or factory.

If the Cowichan decision holds up on appeal, it would mean private property is not secure anywhere a claim for Aboriginal title is made in Canada. In November, a judge of the New Brunswick King’s Bench suggested that where such a claim succeeds, the court may instruct the gov

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