Carney hits back on B.C. property rights decision, as Conservatives form task force

Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa April 29, 2026. Photo by Blair Gable /Postmedia

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OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney is hitting back against what Liberals call “disinformation” about the state of private property rights in British Columbia amid Indigenous land title claims.

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Carney said in question period on Wednesday that he “fundamentally disagrees” with last summer’s B.C. Supreme Court decision granting the Cowichan Tribes Aboriginal title to between 300 and 324 hectares of land in Richmond, B.C.

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“We immediately appealed that decision alongside the government of B.C., the City of Richmond and other First Nations,” said Carney.

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Carney said he’d “always advance viable legal arguments to protect private property.”

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He was responding to a question from Richmond Liberal MP Parm Bains, who asked him to dispel “disinformation” surrounding the Cowichan decision and the federal government’s Feb. 20 agreement with the Lower Mainland’s Musqueam Indian Band.

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Carney’s remarks come after Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called on him to adopt a more aggressive legal strategy in defending B.C. property owners from Aboriginal title claims.

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Poilievre said the Liberals set themselves up to lose the Cowichan decision by failing to argue directly that fee simple private ownership has priority over all other titles.

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He’s calling on Carney to reverse a 2018 litigation directive discouraging federal lawyers from using the so-called “extinguishment” argument asserting that the creation of private land permanently eliminates Aboriginal title.

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Last week, Poilievre announced the creation of a Conservative task force on property rights led by Lower Mainland MP Tako van Popta. He also appointed Richmond Conservative MP Chak Au to chair a separate committee focused on Pacific economic engagement.

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Van Popta, who worked as a real estate and land development lawyer before entering politics, told National Post it could already be too late in the appeals process for the federal government to change its legal strategy.

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“And here’s the question: can that argument (extinguishment) now be raised in the Court of Appeal, since Canada had abandoned it?”

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Von Popta said it was too early to give any details on the Conservative property rights committee’s composition but stressed he would consult extensively with Au on this matter.

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“Chak Au’s someone I’ll be talking to because the subject lands fall squarely within his riding,” said Von Popta.

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Von Popta also said he’d be consulting with Indigenous Conservative MPs Ellis Ross and Billy Morin.

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Au was on Richmond’s city council at the time of the Cowichan decision and has been a vocal critic of how the case was handled by both federal and provincial government lawyers.

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He told National Post that the City of Richmond has been left in a position of largely having to fend for itself.

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“The leadership on the appeal right now is being provided by the City of Richmond. They’ve been arguing for extinguishment right from the beginning, and insisting that this argument can be brought forward in the Court of Appeal,” said Au.