Montrose Properties is seeking to reopen the controversial Cowichan Tribes court decision that has raised questions about land-ownership rights in southwestern B.C.

Richmond, B.C.-based Montrose announced that it will apply to be a party in the litigation and ask the B.C. Supreme Court to reopen the decision.

“As one of many private landowners surprised by the impact of a case that we were not even party to, we have no choice but to take this step,” said Ken Low, president and CEO of Montrose. “Because the final order has not yet been entered, we believe the court has both the ability and the responsibility to let us be heard before any final orders are made that affect us.”

Montrose is making the move avoid having to await the outcome of a lengthy appeal process. The company said it hopes that other parties in the case will support its application so that a “full and fair” hearing can be held before any private landowners are affected.

“We have come to realize this needs to be done before an appeal,” continued Ken Low. “We do not have the luxury of waiting years to get this all sorted out,” said Low.

The court’s decision recognized Aboriginal title for the Cowichan, who are based on Vancouver Island but operated a fishing village on the south arm of the Fraser River during the 1800s in an area that is now part of Richmond.

Malcolm Brodie, Richmond’s mayor, has warned that the ruling could negatively affect property title in the city and other parts of southwestern. City officials came under intense criticism during a recent townhall meeting for not keeping property owners informed aobut the case.

The city is also facing a backlash from property owners who question why they should pay taxes to the city when another governing body could be entitled to them.

According to property tax expert Paul Sullivan, the court’s decision has decimated property values in the affected area.

“I’ve talked to the biggest developers in our province who are my clients, I’ve talked to seasoned experts in valuation, and they’re all saying to me right now that these properties are not saleable. There’s no value,” said Sullivan, a Vancouver-based principal with Ryan, a leading global tax-services firm, told the Globe.

Sullivan’s clients currently make up more than half of the property owners in the affected area.

The city decided to hold the meeting because many affected property owners were previously unaware of the ruling and became deeply concerned about its implications after learning of it.

“I think this is one of the most significant rulings in the history of the province, and maybe the country,” Brodie told the Globe previously. “I think it potentially could dismantle the land title system, certainly in our province, with ramifications across the country.”

In an 863-page ruling, Justice Barbara Young said that the Cowichan have established Aboriginal title to roughly 800 acres of Richmond, along with an Aboriginal right to fish for food, The Globe and Mail reported, noting that the trial was billed as the longest in Canadian history.

Young also ruled that private ownership, known as fee simple title, and ownership interests held by the federal government and City of Richmond in the lands are “defective and invalid,” according to the Globe. The judge has suspended the decision for 18 months, so that the Cowichan, federal government and city can “make the necessary arrangements.”

The Cowichan did not seek to invalidate fee simple interests of private landowners, Robert Morales, chief negotiator for the plaintiffs, previously told the Globe. But corporations or governments with private land holdings represent a “different issue.”

According to the chief negotiator, the Cowichan will seek redress as the case proceeds further through the courts.

Aboriginal title refers to ownership of unceded territories previously inhabited by Indigenous peoples, the Globe noted. Since a 2014 precedent-setting Supreme Court of Canada decision over a B.C. land claims dispute, multiple courts have confirmed that Aboriginal title is a constitutional right, giving Aboriginal groups a say in how their ancestral lands are occupied, used and developed.

The B.C. government and City of Richmond are among groups appealing the Cowichan decision.

The city contends that grants of fee simple interest over the area between 1871, when B.C. entered confederation, and 1914 necessarily extinguished Aboriginal title, according to the Globe.

Other appellants are not making that claim.

According to multiple reports, other Indigenous governments are preparing to file similar legal action in the wake of the Cowichan decision.

Montrose ranks as the largest single landowner in the affected area, with holdings that include a Coca-Cola bottling plant and a Canadian Tire depot, the Globe reported.

Pictured: Richmond, B.C.

Photo: Tourism Richmond