Juno News - B.C. court grants Haida Gwaii aboriginal title

00:00:00.000 B.C.'s highest court has officially granted the Haida Nation Aboriginal title to Haida Gwaii in

00:00:10.200 B.C. All in the combustion of several buses, Quebec has halted 1,200 electrical school buses

00:00:16.120 for inspection. Two Conservative MPs warn that an investigation into Juneau News relates to a

00:00:22.260 larger trend of attacking free expression in the Western world. Hello Canada, it's Monday,

00:00:26.800 September 15th, and this is the True North Daily Brief. I'm Isaac Lamoureux. And I'm Wally Tam Tam.

00:00:32.260 We've got you covered with all the news you need to know. Let's discuss the top stories of the day

00:00:36.780 and the True North exclusives you won't hear anywhere else. The Haida Nation is hailing a 0.94

00:00:45.160 quote, historic victory after British Columbia's highest court affirmed the First Nation holds

00:00:50.660 Aboriginal title to Haida Gwaii. But what does that mean? Aside from leaving private property 0.73

00:00:55.780 ownership in doubt, the ruling offers little clarity for private property owners.

00:01:01.240 Council of the Haida Nation in their latest media release said quote,

00:01:05.100 today Haida ancestors are dancing in celebration. The ancestral dancing celebrated a B.C. Supreme Court

00:01:11.180 order issued last Friday confirming Aboriginal title applies to the entire terrestrial portion

00:01:16.500 of the islands. This marks the first time such a declaration has been issued for the full extent

00:01:21.140 of an Indigenous nation's territory. The order is in keeping with the NDPBC government's 2021

00:01:27.260 Rising Tide Agreement. The Rising Tide Agreement between the Haida Nation, the British Columbia

00:01:32.700 Provincial Government, and the Canadian Federal Government set out a framework for implementing

00:01:37.440 Haida Aboriginal title across Haida Gwaii. While remaining light on specifics, it commits the parties

00:01:42.740 to quote, reconcile their respective laws and jurisdictions while affirming that existing fee,

00:01:48.620 simple property interests on the islands continue. Notably, while the Rising Tide Agreement attempts

00:01:53.880 to state that existing fee, simple interests or private property interests on Haida Gwaii continue

00:01:59.860 to exist under the agreement, that may cease to be the case depending on further litigation

00:02:04.640 surrounding the overlapping of Aboriginal title and fee, simple interests. True North reached out

00:02:10.060 to a registered financial advisor and former lender who grew up on Haida Nation territory,

00:02:14.480 then known as the Queen Charlotte Islands, and asked about the potential implications for private

00:02:19.780 property owners. So, Alid, what are the criticisms of the Haida Gwaii Aboriginal title agreements?

00:02:25.560 Well, Isaac, in general, any additional interest on the title of the property, whether

00:02:29.400 an easement or something else, could make the property less attractive to a potential lender. In other

00:02:34.960 words, the BC property market, which is already sensitive to risk given all this Indigenous land title

00:02:40.660 policies going on by the NDP government, the fact is abhorrent uncertainty and this ruling adds more

00:02:47.220 risk. Now, the worry of risk is echoed by BC Conservative leader John Rustad, who called the

00:02:52.280 process unfolded in secrecy, without consultation with non-Indigenous residents or businesses,

00:02:58.300 leaving thousands of British Columbians unsure about their homes, property, and livelihoods.

00:03:02.900 Another Conservative member, Scott McInnes, went further, warning the decision throws private

00:03:08.360 property rights into the garbage. So, the critics I've heard from argue that the title order,

00:03:14.080 well, historic, injects a serious amount of uncertainty into private property rights in BC.

00:03:19.340 The financial advisor that Trunard interviewed said, quote, any additional interest on the title

00:03:24.200 of a property, whether that be an easement or something else, makes the property less attractive

00:03:28.420 to a potential lender. He added that the BC property market, quote, abhors uncertainty, and this

00:03:33.420 ruling adds more of it. The worries by the expert were echoed by BC Conservative leader John Rustad,

00:03:40.260 who says the process, quote, unfolded in secrecy, without consultation with non-Indigenous residents

00:03:45.900 or businesses, leaving, quote, thousands of British Columbians unsure about their homes,

00:03:51.360 property, and livelihoods. Conservative colleague and MLA, Scott McInnes, went further, warning the

00:03:57.240 decision, quote, throws private property rights into the garbage, creating provincial-wide uncertainty.

00:04:02.640 The NDP government, led by Premier David Eby, counters that the rising tide agreement explicitly

00:04:08.640 protects fee-simple landowners and promises, quote, certainty for everyone for the long term.

00:04:15.240 But Rustad argues the negotiations were largely behind closed doors and that the ruling, quote,

00:04:20.380 grants complete sovereignty over private property. He is calling the NDP government to, quote,

00:04:24.640 immediately appeal the ruling, guarantee that private property rights will be respected

00:04:28.420 and protected across BC and stop using closed-door deals as a model for reconciliation and instead

00:04:35.440 consult with all British Columbians on future agreements.

00:04:41.600 Quebec has grounded its entire fleet of 1,200 line electric school buses for inspection after a

00:04:47.140 second bus from the manufacturer bursts into flames in Montreal this week. The government announced the

00:04:52.000 move Thursday evening, citing safety concerns after a bus burst into flames in Côté de Neige on Tuesday

00:04:58.100 morning. Several children and the driver escaped unharmed, thankfully. Education Minister Sonia Lebel and

00:05:05.060 Transport Minister Jonathan Julien said in a joint statement, quote, since the safety of Quebec school

00:05:10.940 children is our top priority, we have taken the preventative decision to ground 1,200 school buses this

00:05:16.400 Friday while transport companies carry out the necessary inspections. No compromises will be

00:05:21.040 made when it comes to safety on school buses. Ministers added that inspections will take place

00:05:25.720 through the weekend. They said alternative transportation will be offered to parents

00:05:29.220 so children can get to school next week. The fire broke out around 8 a.m. Tuesday near

00:05:34.040 Jean-Pollon Street West and Victoria Avenue. Montreal fire officials said the vehicle was a total loss,

00:05:40.000 though they confirmed the blaze was not linked to the bus battery, according to CP24.

00:05:44.900 The sudden decision caused widespread disruptions for parents and students last Friday. So Isaac,

00:05:50.400 how often do EV fires happen in general? Yeah, Waleed, as we know, electric vehicle fires are

00:05:56.660 often sensational when they occur, as we see them reported in the news, but data suggests that they

00:06:02.580 might be less common than people think, because apparently, compared to gasoline or hybrid vehicles,

00:06:08.220 EVs catch fire at a lower rate. According to a review by auto insurance EZ, which compiled data from

00:06:14.600 the National Transportation Safety Board and the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, fully electric

00:06:19.740 vehicles average about 25 fires per 100,000 sold, while this study said that gasoline-powered cars

00:06:27.120 average about 1,500 per 100,000, which seems way too high to me, but that's what their data is.

00:06:33.100 And they said that hybrids top the list with almost 3,500 per 100,000, because hybrids combine

00:06:39.100 both, of course, a combustible fuel system and a high-voltage battery pack. Similarly,

00:06:44.060 Verisk, a risk analysis firm, reported that EVs catch fire far less frequently than internal

00:06:49.560 combustion engine cars, again, putting at the numbers at about 25 per 100,000. But where EVs might

00:06:55.320 stand out, Waleed, is the nature of the fires, because when lithium-ion batteries do ignite,

00:07:00.960 they obviously burn at extremely high temperatures that can take hours to put out,

00:07:06.380 and sometimes even reignite after peering to be extinguished. So fire departments across North

00:07:12.620 America have had to develop special protocols for these kind of incidents, and that means that even

00:07:18.180 if EV fires might be more rare, that could be why they generate more headlines, because of how serious

00:07:23.520 these fires are. And you mentioned Lion Electric, but just speaking a bit more on them, in January,

00:07:29.080 a school bus in Ontario made by them caught fire, and local firefighters described that as completely

00:07:35.340 engulfed in flames, but luckily, all of the students were evacuated, but of course, the bus was

00:07:40.400 decimated. And more recently, as you mentioned there, the bus that burst into flames in September

00:07:45.560 led Quebec to ground all 1,200 of their electric school buses for inspection, and Transport Canada

00:07:50.880 has even confirmed that it has investigated multiple fire incidents with Lion buses under the

00:07:56.320 Motor Vehicle Safety Act. So these events have obviously raised questions about maybe whether

00:08:02.100 specific manufacturers like Lion Electric are facing design or maintenance programs, and we know that

00:08:07.700 Quebec invested almost $200 million in subsidies to help electrify its school bus fleet, but then

00:08:14.260 this Lion Electric actually filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this year, and we've seen

00:08:19.340 other electric bus boondoggles across the country. For example, where I live in Edmonton, the buses they

00:08:26.820 bought from Proterra is also now bankrupt, and the batteries don't work. They're in nowhere near what they

00:08:33.200 were advertised as from a range perspective. They have to put blankets on them to heat them up in the

00:08:40.260 winter, and the list goes on and on and on. So we're seeing a lot of issues come from these electric

00:08:46.320 vehicle buses. Whether they're extinguished into flames, even when they aren't, they're taken off

00:08:51.140 the road and not operational, which is really unfortunate when it leads to kids not being

00:08:55.880 able to get to school, as we saw in Quebec.

00:09:01.160 Conservative MPs Jamil Javani and Aaron Gunn warned that free expression in Canada is under siege,

00:09:06.800 not only from political violence, but from government institutions themselves. Speaking with True

00:09:11.540 North following a panel discussion, the two argued that Ottawa's criminal investigation into

00:09:15.940 journalist Kian Bextes reporting raises alarming questions about whether dissenting voices in

00:09:20.920 media and politics are being silenced at a time when open debate is more vital than ever.

00:09:25.680 Javani and Gunn spoke with True North about the investigation following a panel discussion

00:09:30.060 Thursday evening with Conservative Ajax candidate and radio host Greg Brady at 99 King in Bowmansville.

00:09:37.500 The panel discussion primarily focused on the assassination of Charlie Kirk, which happened the day before,

00:09:42.700 and the importance of independent and alternative media. The elections commissioner informed

00:09:47.680 Bextes that he was under criminal investigation for a potential breach of Section 91 of the Canada

00:09:55.420 Election Act for his reporting on allegations sources made against a Liberal candidate for Calgary

00:10:00.800 Federation, Thomas Keeper. The section makes it a criminal offence to knowingly publish false

00:10:05.720 information about a candidate during an election with the intent to sway the election. Juno News and

00:10:11.300 Bextes have denied this allegation standing by the report. If found guilty of breaching the act,

00:10:16.680 Bextes could face a fine of up to $50,000 and up to five years imprisonment.

00:10:21.540 Javani told True North, quote,

00:10:23.140 I worry that other journalists, other young people are going to see stuff like that and then now feel

00:10:28.520 constrained by how they do their jobs. At the end of the day, like, the common thread between that

00:10:33.400 example or what happened with Charlie Kirk is this idea of, like, are people free to have a different

00:10:38.100 point of view or are institutions feeling, like, entitled to crack down on them and try to stifle

00:10:43.620 the ability to articulate different ideas? So, Waleed, how did Aaron Gunn react to this? How did he say

00:10:49.280 the assassination of Charlie Kirk and the investigation into Juno News were related?

00:10:53.860 Well, the investigation has drawn attention from different groups across the spectrum, but

00:10:57.400 on the conservative side, not only has Aaron Gunn and Javil Javani spoke about it, but even a former

00:11:03.300 True North independent journalist Andrew Lawton posted on Epps that, contrary to liberal best

00:11:08.880 efforts, independent journalism is not a crime. He furthered on in his Epps statement saying

00:11:14.040 that it's ridiculous that a prosecutor body is pursuing Juno News and Keen Bexte over a story

00:11:20.940 that was sourced and corroborated and was taken seriously enough by the liberals to turf the

00:11:25.580 candidate it was about. Of course, this was just referring to Thomas Keeper.

00:11:28.820 Christine Van Gein, the litigation director at the Canadian Constitution Foundation, expressed her

00:11:34.400 disturbance on Epps regarding the investigation into Bexte's report. She characterized the

00:11:40.560 investigation as, quote, weaponizing the law to stop journalism that the government doesn't like.

00:11:45.640 The CCF, her group, was actually part of the legal challenge against Section 9.D.1.1,

00:11:50.920 which led to the Ontario court declaring the section unconstitutional. Of course, the independent

00:11:56.080 press gallery, of which journalists are registered members, also defended Bexte's reporting, stating

00:12:02.500 the investigation amounted to censorship by prosecution.

00:12:09.000 That's it for today, folks. Thanks for tuning in. You can stay on top of new episodes every weekday

00:12:13.740 by subscribing to The Daily Brief on iTunes and Spotify. Also, while you're at it, make sure to hit us

00:12:19.000 with a five-star rating and please leave a review.

Juno News - September 15, 2025

B.C. court grants Haida Gwaii aboriginal title

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