November 12,2025
RED FM News Desk
Victoria, B.C.: John Rustad, leader of the official opposition Conservative Party and critic for Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation, is urging Premier David Eby to publicly release all legal advice and opinions provided to the province regarding whether to raise or not raise private property rights in the Cowichan Tribes v. Canada court case.
“While the Premier says he wants to protect homeowners, his own government chose not to raise private property rights in court,” Rustad said. “People in British Columbia have the right to know why this decision was made, and on whose advice. It was the government’s duty to ensure legal clarity and protect the public interest, not gamble with people’s property rights. Instead, the Premier chose to remain silent.”
Rustad added that the government’s ongoing silence around its legal advice fuels suspicion that political calculations, rather than legal reasoning, drove the province’s actions.
“If the government was warned that raising property rights could clarify the law and protect private property owners, and it chose not to act, British Columbians have the right to know whether their government stood up for them—and why or why not. Ignoring legal warnings that private property rights could be at risk demonstrates a reckless decision by the Premier and his government and a serious breach of public trust. Transparency is the first step to restoring confidence in reconciliation and public trust—both of which this government has lost.”
Rustad reiterated that the handling of the Cowichan case by the NDP has “shaken trust in B.C.’s land title system” and said truth is necessary to rebuild it.
“The Premier needs to come forward clearly and release the legal advice his government received.”
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