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w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 4 43 lEgal rEport/mining law A new era of title claims Recent Supreme Court rulings will definitely affect mining and other development projects that touch on 'title land.' by janet guttSMan a landmark ruling on aboriginal land rights will open the door to more title claims, pos- sible slowdowns in mining and other development, higher costs, and a heightened push to negoti- ate deals. But the Supreme Court is building on existing practice rather than pushing aboriginal law in a new direction. Lawyers specializing in both min- ing and aboriginal law expect a raft of new cases to test the limits of aborigi- nal title in the wake of the Supreme Court of Canada's June 26 Tsilhqot'in Nation v. British Columbia ruling — the Tahltan First Nations in northern Brit- ish Columbia jumped right in with a title claim that it launched hours after Tsilhqot'in came in. The lawyers also say any attempts from governments to argue the public benefit of a proposed devel- opment justifies infringing on aborigi- nal rights will prompt a new round of suits that will likely go all the way to the Supreme Court, probably delaying projects well beyond the time frame a company may be prepared to see. In Tsilhqot'in, the Supreme Court issued its first declaration of aboriginal title, ruling the band holds title to land in the interior of British Columbia it has used over generations, and it can prevent forestry activities there. The decision confirms a new category in the land ownership lexicon, adding "title land" to the existing Crown land and private land. The case has broad implications for those provinces where First Nations have no treaties dealing with land use, including parts of Quebec and the Mar- itimes as well as British Columbia, the resource-rich home to some 200 of Canada's 600 First Nations groups. It gives governments the right to infringe on native title if it's in the broader pub- lic interest, but also strongly reinforces the view it's better to reach a deal with an aboriginal group than to launch into a costly legal process that may take more than a decade to be resolved. Yet for companies already focused on consultation and accommodation — paying for the privilege of operating on aboriginal lands — most things will stay the same. "It's business as usual, but I think it will slow things down, for sure, on the aboriginal title side," says Brian Dominique, a partner at Cassels huan tran