In the dying days of the provincial election campaign, the Progressive Conservative candidate in the riding of Preston-Dartmouth is criticizing the Liberals over their handling of the Preston land title issue — and warning that it could lead to the displacement of a black community like Africville if left unresolved.

Irvine Carvery, the PC candidate for Preston-Dartmouth, says the Liberals have not given the issue the attention it deserves during their 3 ½ years in office.

"Just their silence on the issue indicates to me that they're ignoring it," said Carvery, who criticized Keith Colwell, the veteran MLA who is seeking a fifth consecutive win in the riding.

"It's an issue that needs to be addressed. It's historic in nature and it's impacting on the future development of those communities."

Rooted in history

The problem over titles in North Preston is rooted in history.

Two hundred years ago, the government provided land lots in North Preston to Black Loyalists, but not legal deeds to the properties in this historic black settlement.

A PC government under Robert Stanfield attempted to address this issue in the 1960s with the passage of the Land Titles Clarification Act.

Despite that, it's estimated one-third of the properties do not have legal ownership documents. So for those families, they've been living on properties for generations without clear land titles.

No land title plan yet

Adding to the expense and time to resolve titles, there's the legal hitch if lifelong residents haven't left a will behind. It's a common problem in a cultural community in which wills often aren't discussed.

It's all left families in limbo, and a community in need of a solution.

Africville Genealogical Society chair Irvine Carvery outside the tent where a memorial church service was held at Africville Park. (Anjuli Patil/CBC)

Carvery noted that the Liberal government has not finalized a land title plan despite saying they were close to doing so 15 months ago.

He said a PC government would resolve the issue "in a very timely way" but would not put a timeline on it.

Complex problem

The issue came to the fore last year after journalism students at the NSCC investigated the issue and highlighted the work of a volunteer group, the Land Recovery Initiative.

The exposure led to the Liberals announcing a pilot project involving the Nova Scotia Barristers' Society, the Association of Nova Scotia Land Surveyors, the Department of African Nova Scotian Affairs and the Department of Natural Resources. Support, such as free advice, would be provided to residents in North Preston, East Preston and Cherry Brook to clarify titles.

Two certificates issued

The issue falls within the Department of Natural Resources. Spokesman Bruce Nunn says the department is making progress on applications made under the Land Titles Clarification Act. Staff are working on 20 active files, and two certificates have been issued and one is close to completion.

Staff are also reviewing ways to make it easier for people to apply, and more staff members are working on these files, said Nunn.

The assertion that Liberals are ignoring the issue is rejected by Colwell. He says it's crucial the government not rush in with a simple fix for a complicated problem.

'Not something you play politics with'

Colwell says Carvery isn't taking into account that the issue is deeply personal for families where inheritance rights are at stake and where there can be more than 20 children and hundreds of grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

"This is not something you should play politics with or be involved politically," said Colwell.

Liberal candidate Keith Colwell said it's going to take time to resolve the land title issue. (Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press)

Among constituency issues, Colwell says this is the most complicated file. He's been working on one land title file for 10 years. He says without agreement and documentation tracked down, it can take years to ensure a rightful owner's ability to bequeath or sell property.

"It's something that needs to be resolved. There is an issue. It's a serious issue," said Colwell. "But it's going to take some time to resolve it and each family has to decide at what pace they want to go at it."

Still, Colwell is hopeful that this year he'll be able to help settle about half of the approximately two dozen cases he's working on.

Another Africville

But for Carvery, whose political credentials include helping to resolve the grievance over the expropriation and razing of Africville homes in the 1960s, this issue is urgent and parallel.

"I'm afraid if we don't get this resolved immediately then the people of the Prestons are in danger of the same kind of thing: encroachment onto their lands, their lands going missing," said Carvery.

"Without clear title, all of a sudden land comes up for tax sale, and then all of a sudden that land is taken out of the hands of people who have lived on it for centuries."

Wrong comparison

Colwell says that's flat-out wrong.

"There's nobody encroaching on the properties that I'm aware of in these areas. It's just strictly a matter of land titles and there's nobody that I've seen or heard of or anything at all that's doing any land encroachment."

Colwell says HRM rules about development make encroachment challenging, and besides, he says no one in the community would stand for it.

Candidates respond

Dwight Adams of the North Preston Land Recovery Initiative said he doesn't believe the Preston-area community is as much at risk as Africville was.

"We don't see our community falling apart that quickly or coming to that end because we are a little stronger and a little larger and, of course, we have a little more support," he said.

North Preston Land Recovery Initiative member Dwight Adams. (NSCC)

The initiative sent a questionnaire to the three major political party candidates about various issues, including the land title issue. NDP candidate Shelley Fashan and Carvery also addressed the land title issue with residents at an election town hall meeting last week. Colwell was not able to attend the meeting.

The NDP response to the questionnaire said the party fully supports the initiative and that the issue should not have to be resolved through the courts.

"An NDP government would take an active role in this partnership to ensure that those working to resolve land claim issues are able to navigate the system and are supported with the necessary resources."

Regardless of who wins on May 30, Adams said he's not giving up until the land title issue is resolved.

"We're in a fight right to the end." he said. "It's just far too long. We're talking 200 years of this going on with our community."