Claims of Sovereignty - Burdens of Occupation: William and the Future of Reconciliation
![handle is hein.journals/ubclr48 and id is 229 raw text is:
CLAIMS OF SOVEREIGNTY-BURDENS OF
OCCUPATION: WILLL4MAND THE FUTURE
OF RECONCILIATION
JOSHUA NICHOLSt
INTRODUCTION
The William' case presented two very different jurisprudential
trajectories on the question of Aboriginal title. On the one hand, there is
the test that Justice Vickers sets out in the British Columbia Supreme
Court decision Tsilhqotin Nation,2 in which title is determined
according to a combination of pre-sovereignty occupation, exclusivity,
and continuity.3 On the other hand, Justice Groberman of the British
Columbia Court of Appeal has suggested that there are degrees of
occupation, only some of which are sufficient for the recognition of
title.' This difference could, at first glance, appear to be a rather
inconsequential one. After all, the move from occupation to degree of
occupation could be seen as little more than a refinement of one of the
three elements of the test for Aboriginal title. But this move results in a
fundamental change in the test. This change is, as we will see later on,
reflected in the territorial approach taken by Justice Vickers and the
site-specific one taken by Justice Groberman. Simply put, the
introduction of the concept of degree (i.e., of measurement) to the
BA (Hons), MA, PhD, JD, Articled Student, Ratcliff and Company LLP.
1 Tsilhqotin Nation v British Columbia, 2007 BCSC 1700, [2008] 1 CNLR 112
[Tsilhqot'in Nation]; William v British Columbia, 2012 BCCA 285, 33 BCLR (5th)
260 [William].
2 Tsilhqot'in Nation, supra note 1.
Ibid at paras 542-53.
4 William, supra note 1 at paras 174-204.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/ubclr48&div=9&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Claims of Sovereignty - Burdens of Occupation: William and the Future of Reconciliation
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