B.C. government looks to offer loan guarantees to property owners in Cowichan Aboriginal title area

British Columbia’s premier says his government is working on a plan to offer loan guarantees for property owners and businesses in the Cowichan Aboriginal title area.

In a year-end interview with CBC News, David Eby says the province is trying to ease the stress on homeowners and businesses in the area of Richmond, B.C., by supporting them to be "able to access borrowing, refinance their mortgages or mortgage a property if someone is buying new, or access financing as a business."

"That guarantee will enable them to continue life a little more close to normal."

CBC News asked Eby if the B.C. government would be the backstop for their mortgages.

"That’s right," he said. "We would support a financial institution that had anxiety about otherwise writing a mortgage to be able to have the confidence to write that mortgage for somebody."

Eby told The Canadian Press his government plans to offer $150 million in loan guarantees.

He said the fund could include $100 million in guaranteed financing for Montrose Properties, which owns about 120 hectares of the roughly 325-hectare claim area, and a further $54 million for smaller owners.

Eby said the final amount could be significantly larger because current plans do not yet account for significant "additional commercial activity" in the area.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Barbara Young sparked controversy earlier this year with a legally unprecedented ruling establishing Aboriginal title alongside private property ownership of land that once housed a traditional Quw'utsun (Cowichan) Nation village in what is now the city of Richmond.

While Young’s ruling says “the property rights of the private landowners are not undermined,” the judge said the Crown would have to work with the Quw'utsun to “negotiate and reconcile” the coexistence of Aboriginal title and private property rights.

The federal Crown, the province and the city of Richmond are all appealing the decision, part of which Young suspended for 18 months in order to give the parties time to deal with fallout from her ruling.

'Good step forward' says mayor

Eby says his team has been going door to door in the area, asking homeowners if they’ve been unable to secure mortgage renewals or property loans because of the court decision.

While there are no concrete examples involving homeowners, many expressed fears they won't be able to sell or refinance their home, he said.

"[People are] very reluctant, understandably, to want to put their names on a sworn document in court about this," Eby said.

He said he hopes the guarantee will alleviate some of that anxiety.

"We're hopeful we'll have some people come forward to talk about what the impacts have been because one of the big issues here was the court said, 'We're not going to make a decision that impacts people's private property rights.' And then, of course, that's exactly what the court did at the end of the decision."

Montrose Properties says in legal documents that a previous lender denied it $35 million in financing because of concerns about the ruling, while discussions about a separate project have ceased.

Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie says if Eby follows through with the promise, it could ease concerns among some residents.

“We really don't have the details of this but it is a good step forward," he said. "It’s a potentially very substantial commitment when you consider that the appeal could go on for a number of years.”

Peter Milobar, finance critic for the Opposition B.C. Conservatives, said his party asked the premier months ago if the government would provide a financial backstop.

“We brought this forward right after the Richmond town hall meeting and it was kind of brushed off by the government,” he said.