First Nations leaders are gathering with provincial leaders this week in Vancouver for an annual summit

Premier David Eby says that no banks that he is aware of have refused financing to property owners potentially impacted by the Cowichan Tribes court decision.

"We have not heard from any of the banks that they are refusing financing to individuals," he said at the First Nations Leaders' Gathering in Vancouver on Tuesday, Nov. 3. "In fact, we've heard already from one bank that the opposite is true."

Eby spoke alongside First Nations leaders on the two issues that have generated sometimes strong disagreement between Indigenous groups and the government over the past year: The Cowichan Tribes land title decision and energy resource development.

With the meetings just getting underway, the premier's tone was conciliatory, and he cast some of the contrasting needs as not mutually exclusive, provided the right approach is taken.

On the land decision, Eby said he hoped to find a resolution through the court process to both account for the injustice done to the Cowichan people and to protect private property rights.

"This is a challenge, but it's certainly not impossible," he said.

Eby tempered this optimism with a "frank" interpretation of his reading of the decision, which grants the Cowichan First Nation title on government-owned land on Lulu Island in Richmond, while ordering ownership of 150 private lots to be reconciled in some way.

The B.C. government has appealed the decision, as have other parties. The case could end up in the Supreme Court of Canada, and the process will likely take years.

"If you read that decision as a property owner, you would rightly be worried," Eby said.

Chief Shana Thomas, the hereditary chief of the Lyackson First Nation and the political executive of the First Nations Summit, characterized the decision differently.

The Lyackson First Nation is a neighbour to the Cowichan, and Thomas referenced a press conference held after the decision as illustrative of the intentions behind the court challenge.

"The chiefs had stated that they did not want to displace anybody. They know what that feels like," she said, making sure to point out she was appearing on behalf of the First Nations Summit.

Thomas said that in her interpretation of the decision, the judge orders the Crown to reconcile the title to the lands taken from the Cowichan peoples, but does not suggest the displacement of private owners.

"The court was really clear about that," she said. "It's not the individual property owner. It is the Crown."

Pipeline politics aren't going away

The other issue that looms large over this week's leaders' meeting are First Nations views on efforts to boost the economy and diversify trade in the face of tariff tensions by developing natural resource projects. Some nations are vehemently opposed to these sorts of developments, especially oil and gas, while others are partnering in projects.

Even the First Nations leaders speaking at the opening of the meetings expressed somewhat contradictory views.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has reignited the debate over a new oil pipeline, though that would require the removal of the north coast tanker ban, something local First Nations oppose.

Meanwhile, the B.C. government is pushing liquefied natural gas exports as an economic boon to the province.

Regional Chief Terry Teegee of the B.C. Assembly of First Nations spoke about the need to diversify the economy and the importance of being involved in those discussions, saying that this conversation is not going away.

"I think we'll see it again and again and again," he said. "So at some point, we're going to have to have really important, realistic discussions about an oil pipeline."

Immediately after these comments, Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs called a new oil pipeline a "non-starter" and criticized natural gas development.

"Why are we obsessing about oil and gas when the land itself is burning, flooding, landslides? It doesn't make any sense," he said. "There are other, less destructive forms of energy we can look to."

Eby said these sorts of discussions can be sources of "tension" with communities and Indigenous groups.

"These are not easy discussions, but they're crucial discussions, and absolutely they will be discussed at the table here over the coming days," he said.