Tsilhqot'in Nation v. British Columbia
The B.C. Supreme Court released its historic decision on Aboriginal title and rights in the Tsilhqot'in Nation v. British Columbia decision on November 21, 2007. Mitchell Couling was part of the litigation team for the Tsilhqot'in Nation. While the Court declined to issue a declaration of Aboriginal title, it did declare that the Tsilhqot'in Nation have unextinguished, proven Aboriginal rights to over 400,000 hectares of British Columbia. The parties filed appeals and cross-appeals of the decision in December 2007. The parties then engaged in potential settlement talks pursuant to the strong encouragement of the trial judge (and the Chief Justice who is case-managing the appeal) but no resolution was achieved. The parties must file their appeal factums (written arguments) by June 4, 2010 and their responding factums by September 3, 2010. The appeal may be heard for two weeks in late November 2010. Please click on “Executive Summary” to view the Devlin Gailus summary of the decision. Executive Summary 2007 BCSC 1700 Tsilhqot'in Nation v. British Columbia   [link to Supreme Court Website] 2009 BCCA 83 William v. British Columbia   [link to B.C Court of Appeal Website]
* These documents require Adobe Acrobat Reader to view. Click here to download a free copy.    Return to Links