Richmond, B.C., Coun. Alexa Loo says 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.
“They’ve been doing business here for over 40 years,” Loo told Global News.
“They had a shovel-ready project that was worth about $100 million. It represented a lot of jobs and more sort of tech medical industry-type jobs, so good jobs. Their bank basically said financing’s off for this project. We’re not ready to support a new project in that area in the Cowichan Tribes’ land dispute area.”
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.
In August, B.C.’s Supreme Court granted the Quw’utsun Nation (Cowichan Nation) Aboriginal title over 5.7 km of land in Richmond.
Last week, the City of Richmond sent a letter to a group of 150 property owners, warning them that the case could compromise the validity of their ownership.
The Cowichan Nation argued against this and said the ruling does not erase anyone’s private property.
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However, a lot of confusion remains.
“The company was very disappointed,” said Loo, who would not disclose the company’s name.
“I was also disappointed, obviously, they’re business people, so they pivot and they try and figure out, well, what else, how else can we make this happen?”
Loo said part of the deal was also hopefully building a road through the port lands, which is currently a dead end.
Loo said she would like to see the provincial government sort out the land title and provide certainty around the land title agreement.
“I believe that the province also has the responsibility to backstop and mitigate some of the financial consequences that are coming out of this,” she added.
B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma told Global News they are “aggressively” pursuing a stay of the court’s decision to pause any impacts until they can seek a higher level of court.
“I also know that our legal counsel is reaching out to see if there’s any things we can do on the ground right now,” she said.
“It’s an issue we’re taking very seriously and we’re seized with it right now.”
Sharma said they are looking at all options, including financial support for people who might need it.
“We’re very seized with this issue and we’re working through all the ways that we can support people,” she added.
Loo said she is tabling a motion to bring to Richmond City Council to ask the federal and provincial governments to get together and mitigate the financial repercussions that appear to be occurring due to this land title decision.
“We know that the appeal process will take a long time, and people are caught in limbo in that length of time,” she said.
“We’ve got homeowners, and I believe the province really needs to backstop these people to make sure nobody loses their home, that projects can move ahead, and that infrastructure can keep happening.”
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