Appellants factum - Woodward & Company

29widely recognized as a publicly important test-case on the nature and extent ofAboriginal title. 198 The consequences for the Xeni Gwet’in and the Tsilhqot’in peopleare profound. No advantage could be gained by the Plaintiff insisting that he wouldrather have the Aboriginal title claims of the Tsilhqot’in people rejected outright thanaccept declarations of Aboriginal title to anything less than the entire Claim Area.102. For his part, the Plaintiff never described his claim as “all or nothing”, nor did heindicate at any point that he was adverse to findings of Aboriginal title to portions of theClaim Area. In fact, it was the Defendants that described the Plaintiff’s claim as “all ornothing”, in a motion brought in the final days of trial, after several years rigorouslylitigating the extent of Tsilhqot’in use, occupation and control of every part of the ClaimArea.103. With respect, the Trial Judge placed undue emphasis on a narrow and untenableinterpretation of the Plaintiff’s pleadings. In his Amended Statement of Claim, thePlaintiff asserted exclusive Tsilhqot’in occupation of the Brittany (Tachelach’ed) and theTrapline Territory 199 and sought the following relief:a) A declaration that the Tsilhqot’in have existing Aboriginal title to the Brittany;b) A declaration that the Tsilhqot’in have existing Aboriginal title to the TraplineTerritory.…n) Such further, other, equitable, and related relief, and such costs, as to thisHonourable Court may seem meet and just. 200104. The Plaintiff did not “explicitly” 201 claim Aboriginal title to portions of Tachelach’edor the Trapline Territory but such lesser included relief is clearly implicit in the198 See e.g.: William v. Riverside Forest Products Ltd., 2001 BCSC 1641, 95 B.C.L.R. (3d) 371; Xeni Gwet'in FirstNations v. British Columbia, 2002 BCCA 434, 3 B.C.L.R. (4 th ) 231, para. 128; Xeni Gwet’in First Nations v. BritishColumbia, 2004 BCSC 610, 240 D.L.R. (4 th ) 547, para. 49; William v. British Columbia (HMTQ), 2009 BCCA 83, [2009]B.C.J. No. 338, para. 6.199 Amended Statement of Claim, paras. 10-11; Trial Decision, paras. 117-18.200 Amended Statement of Claim, Prayer for Relief [underscore added]; Trial Decision, para. 119.201 Trial Decision, para. 120.