city of north vancouver says online letter warning residents about land title risk is fake
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the city of north vancouver says a letter printed using the city's logo warning residents to hire lawyers to ensure they are not at risk of losing title to their land is fake.
city of north vancouver
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x.com
the city of north vancouver says a letter printed using the city’s logo warning residents to hire lawyers to ensure they are not at risk of losing title to their land is fake.
city spokesperson amanda gibbs said several users of x began circulating a photographed image of the fraudulent letter around 10 a.m. on wednesday.
“the letter was created using the city of north vancouver’s logo and posing as a city of north vancouver department reaching out to homeowners with information about indigenous land and title,” gibbs said.
“this letter was not issued by the city of north vancouver or any of its partners, but we are not certain if there were physical copies. so far, it seems to have been shared online only. the city has been flagging this as a fake letter on its social media channels and to those calling the city for clarification. one of the x users posting it has taken down their account, and the city reached out to a second user to remove the post, which has been removed.”
the letter was printed on white paper using the city of north vancouver’s official font with a subject line stating “validity of your property title.”
the letter says “your property lies on unceded indigenous territory — land never ceded or surrendered to the crown by treaty.
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“the city of vancouver sits within the traditional homelands of the squamish, musqueam and tsleil-waututh nations. these nations continue to assert aboriginal title. … all three nations entered the b.c. treaty process but none reached a final agreement.”
the letter goes on to say “we encourage you to be aware of these claims and the legal processes underway to address it and we recommend hiring a lawyer to ensure your property title is not affected.”
the letter is signed indigenous claims review council, city of north vancouver — which does not exist.
on wednesday afternoon, the tsleil-waututh nation issued a statement also warning that the letter was fake.
“there is a fraudulent letter being circulated as if it were from the city of north vancouver — and possibly other governments — regarding indigenous land and title. the letter mirrors the one that richmond property owners recently received from the city of richmond.
“this letter was not issued by the city of north vancouver and not endorsed by səlilwətaɬ (tsleil-waututh nation). if you have received this letter or see it online, please disregard.”
the letter was printed at a time in b.c. where there are concerns over the impact on private property following a recent b.c. supreme court ruling confirming aboriginal title over an area of private and government-owned land in richmond.
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earlier this month, richmond mayor malcolm brodie sent a letter to some residents, stating: “please take note that the recent b.c. supreme court decision of cowichan tribes v canada made some very important decisions which could negatively affect the title to your property.”
a letter from richmond mayor malcolm brodie to residents in an area where title has been claimed by the cowichan tribes included a map showing affected properties.
city of richmond
a briefing paper was attached to brodie’s letter and a public meeting held on oct. 28 in which frustrated property owners said brodie had waited too long to respond.
on wednesday, b.c. premier david eby said his government would be asking for a stay of the implementation of the ruling, giving the b.c. court of appeal an opportunity to consider and decide on the landmark case.
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