Redressing the Past to Repair the Present: The Role of Property Law in Creating and Exacerbating Racial Disparities in Wealth and Poverty in Nova Scotia

Abstract

For over 200 years African Nova Scotians have been fighting to confirm legal title to the land on which their ancestors were settled. In 2020, the Nova Scotia Supreme Court remarked “the lack of clear title and the segregated nature of their land triggered a cycle of poverty for black families that persisted for generations.” Nova Scotia has a long history of obscure land titles; however, the ensuing cycle of poverty appears to have disproportionately impacted African Nova Scotians. This thesis reframes the African Nova Scotian land titles discourse into a broader understanding about systemic anti-Black racism and White supremacist ideology embedded within the origins of property law in this province, revealing the land titles issue as merely the tip of the iceberg.