For Release: 29 June 2026
The Quw’utsun (Cowichan) Nation welcomes today’s court decision dismissing the application to reopen their trial regarding Quw’utsun Nation Aboriginal title to their homelands at Tl’uqtinus on the south arm of the Fraser River.[1]
Sulsulxumaat, Cindy Daniels, Chief of Cowichan Tribes, stated: “We’re very happy with this result. This allows us to focus on our respectful reconciliation work, which our ancestors and elders started, based on the court declared Quw’utsun Nation Aboriginal title to lands of our settlement at Tl’uqtinus.”
The B.C. Supreme Court rejected the applications by Montrose Industries Ltd., Montrose Property Holdings Ltd, and Ecowaste Industries Ltd. (collectively, “Montrose”) as an abuse of process for relitigation. It found, “Four of the five issues that Montrose seeks to address if the trial was reopened were fully argued and litigated by the parties at trial, and the subject of discussion and determinations in the Final Reasons.” Further, “The remaining issue, the applicability of provincial laws, including 38 statutes, is not an appropriate issue for the Court to determine in these proceedings as the issue does not arise on the pleadings and there is an absence of any live controversy or dispute.”
Huy’wu’qw Laxele’wuts’aat, Shana Thomas, Hereditary Chief of Lyackson First Nation, stated: “Aboriginal title cannot be treated as an afterthought. The Cowichan decision resulted from a lengthy and thorough judicial process, and the Court’s dismissal of the application to reopen the case reinforces the integrity of that process.”
June is Indigenous History Month in Canada. For a history of the Quw’utsun Nation and their homeland at Tl’uqtinus, as determined by the B.C. Supreme Court in Cowichan Tribes v. Canada, 2025 BCSC 1490, go to the link below.[2] The Quw’utsun Nation today is comprised of the Cowichan Tribes, Stz’uminus First Nation, Penelakut Tribe, Halalt First Nation and Lyackson First Nation.
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[1] Cowichan Tribes v Canada (Attorney General), 2026 BCSC 1213
[2] Honouring Quw’utsun (Cowichan) Nation History, Culture & Contributions in National Indigenous History Month & on National Indigenous Peoples Day | Woodward & Company LLP