Province announces $3M fund to help clear land titles in historic Black communities

Christopher Downey struggles to express how satisfying it was the day he received legal title to land that members of his family first settled more than 100 years ago.

"I can't put it into words how my wife and I feel," he said.

"It's been a personal accomplishment and it's been a long time coming."

The North Preston, N.S., resident and his wife, Christesline, fought for years to get legal title to their land, land his great-grandfather first settled on in 1913. It was a fight made necessary by systemic racism.

Starting with their arrival in the 18th century, Black settlers were not given legal title to their land. While the provincial government has made efforts through the years to address that, many people are still fighting the same fight Downey and his wife went through.

On Friday, Premier Iain Rankin announced a $3-million fund to try to move that process along.

The intention is to use the money to help resolve cases where there are competing land claims and provide clear title for residents in the historic Black communities of East Preston, North Preston, Cherry Brook/Lake Loon, Lincolnville and Sunnyville.

The province is appointing two judges, Corrine Sparks and Valerie Miller, to act as commissioners and adjudicate disputes.

"This will avoid delays in court and allow us to look at ways to streamline the process, whether it's a negotiation or mediation," Rankin said in an interview.

There are more than 850 parcels of land eligible for this work. Of those, 527 have made applications to the government and 194 of those have had their titles cleared.

'A breakdown of trust'

Rankin said the government would also be increasing efforts to directly contact people who have not made applications to get clear title.

"There's a lot of breakdown of trust with community and government, so we have to take a proactive approach to actually knock on doors and get out in the community and make sure that they know that this is an opportunity for them to get their land clarified," he said.

"There is obviously historic systemic racism involving government and rightfully they haven't had the trust that they need and hopefully with this action they'll see that they will have that opportunity."

The province also announced Angela Simmonds as the new executive director of the Land Titles Initiative to lead the work and provide consistent focus across the various government departments involved in the process.

"She knows more about land titles than anyone in the province and she'll be bringing forward ways that we can move along the other files," said Rankin.

Simmonds, a lawyer, helped Downey with his case.

"You couldn't have a better representative than Angela Simmonds," he said.

"It's just common sense. She knows the residents from that area, from the North Preston area, and surrounding areas in general."

More support to come

Rankin said Friday's announcement won't be enough to complete the necessary work.

There could be a need for legislation or regulations at some point and there will definitely be a need for more resources, he said.

"Whether that's land surveyors, or more community navigators, we just want to make sure that we're doing everything we can to accelerate this."

While the focus on the work right now is the five largest historic Black communities in the province, the premier noted that there are 52 in total and he's willing to look at expanding the program to other communities.

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