So this leaves the province of BC, between a rock and a hard place. Where they failed to do its duty in the first place to consult with the first Nation, yet let the NEB do their thing.

So this is something Northern Gateway can leverage to recover costs of operation to date to the tax payers. remember the Kemano completion project, how much did that cost the tax payers.

Should be interesting, I guess in action by Christie does have a price.

Well, Christie now what.

If northern gateway does not get built, the province will be sued by the group for the provincial government by abdicating its responsibility to the first nation. Thus Northern Gateway would have not spent the money to keep the offices open for this many years.

The province still needs to spend the money and effort to do a fair and equitable environmental assessment as well consult with the first nation on the pipeline. If the assessment and consultation comes out that the pipeline is a no, your still going to be sued by Northern Gateway for the first abdication of responsibility. If the pipeline does not go thru, than what message are you sending the world. that BC is not open for business!!!

If the pipeline goes thru, than your going to have a few of the first nations quite upset because you just made a mockery of your own system. There will be other first nation groups that will be happy because of the revenue source.

Seems like a pretty strange tight rope your going to be walking across, I suggest build it. come election time, just campaign what the NDP party did to Alberta, and your still a shoe in.

Lets keep things in perspective here.
This is the BC Supreme Court, not the Supreme Court of Canada which has the final authority if it should get that far. At this point it is federal law that allows for the project to move forward without a provincial environmental review, so it’s hard to see where the BC Government could have held it up by opting for it’s own review.
It’s well known that the BC Court has a bit of an Activist bent, and is always trying to make laws rather than interpret and enforce them, so I would take this decision with a huge grain of salt. I would not be surprised to see this reversed on appeal as It is well known that the Federal Government is the ultimate authority when it comes to inter provincial energy projects!

What’s that I smell? Could it be that flowery smell of an NEP ? We wouldn’t have even half the problems we have now had it been implemented back in the early 1980s .

one victory next site C mark my words. This is how stupid this LIBERAL govt. really is. Confrontation all around, you can not start a fire on all fronts, because you are eventually going to get burned. BC people this govt. insists on spending millions in court costs instead of coming to some resolution, find the common ground and move forward. CHESTY you cant have your cake and eat it to.

I don’t think this should come as a surprise to anyone. The Tsilhqot’in First Nation’s ruling by the supreme court of Canada set the precedence that First Nations bands must “consent” not just be “consulted” with.

The government had a few choices at that time. Continue to operate under the status quo, or adapt to the new landscape that is the reality of doing business in Canada. If there is no treaty made, we can’t just shove projects forward without consent.

the government chose, status quo. BC Liberal made their bed, now they have to sleep in it.

So to your comment NyteHawwk, if this reaches the Supreme Court of Canada, it won’t be good for the BC Liberals.

The Limbo bar was set too low and Northern Gateway could not get under it too win.

pgjohn, you actually missed my point entirely.
Prior to the Enbridge project beginning the approval process, the federal CONSERVATIVE government passed legislation eliminating the need for a provincial review of all inter-provincial energy projects. Effectively leaving the province with nothing to review or approve as the process had been big footed by the feds.
If the Province has no role in the approval process, how then can they be required to consult

Seems like we have a bit of a problem. Without Keystone, Enbridge, or Trans Mountain Pipe lines Alberta will be left with only one option, and that will be a Railway to Alaska, thence the Alaska Pipeline from Delta, to Valdez Alaska, and then ship to world markets. The Alaska pipeline is only operating at 1/3 capacity, so they will be more than happy to move this oil.

All is not lost of course, because thousands of us can go to Alberta, and work on these projects. The rest of us can sit back and watch.
Naturally after the project is complete the Railway will run to Alberta with any and all commodities shipped from Alaska, and we wont get a whiff of this business, but who cares, because we stopped the pipelines.

Hmmmm. Maybe we did not stop them, rather we had them diverted North by rail or pipeline, along with all the associated jobs and revenue.

I don’t know why anyone has to highlight ‘Conservative’ government. It was indeed the government of Canada that quite properly legislated that inter-provincial projects were under their control so that lefty provinces like BC wouldn’t shut down projects important to all of Canada. BC’s consultation should be a referendum in all northern ridings to fairly judge whether we want the Northern Gateway pipeline or not. It is no democracy wherein insignificant groups of purported stakeholders can shut down or impede the economy of western Canada.

Hey, the railway could be powered by site c and or solar!

‘For example, the Federal Court of Canada’s dismissal in August of a petition brought by two First Nations bands clearly concluded that B.C. Hydro’s consultation with First Nations (a key requirement based on major court decisions) has “been extensive and conducted in good faith.” In fact, the court noted B.C. Hydro met with Treaty 8 First Nations 177 times and spent almost $6 million over seven years.’

That’s from the record of the Federal Court’s dismissal of Treaty 8’s taxpayer-funded challenge of the Site C project.

177 separate and distinct consultations and $6 million bucks of taxpayers’ (rate payers’) dough.

Q – When is consultation with first nations enough?
A – Never, especially when rich, out-of-province celebrity eco-terrorists like David Suzuki get involved.

Wake up people – 4% of the population is controlling your future, and the future of your children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

You think that’s racist? Nope, it’s a fact. Bad things were done to a small segment of our provincial and national population 60 years ago and we’ll be wearing the sins of our fathers for the next 100 years, thanks to the urban bleeding hearts of this country.

Maybe a first nations person can turn out the lights in BC after they’re through dismantling our economy.

I agree with NyteHawwk

The obligation to provide consultation and a decision-making process in cases where the Crown contemplates actions or decisions which may affect an Aboriginal or Treaty right is embedded in Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982

The Crown constitutes both the Federal and Provincial governments. Therefore, the level of government contemplating an action or decision has the responsibility to consult and accommodate.

As I see it, it is the Federal Government which contemplated the action by considering whether an interprovincial pipeline would be given approval. In fact, they have the jurisdiction and thus also have the duties falling from that jurisdiction. It is senseless for the Province to duplicate both actions which are the responsibility of the senior government.

I have not read the case and am wondering what were the salient principles on which the court’s judgement rested. Without further information it just does not seem like a rational decision.

We have a government with divisions of power in the constitution. The provincial government has sovereignty over its natural resources in Canada, and that can’t be negated by a deceleration of any government of Canada without opening up the constitution. The BC Supreme Court is simply stating that the BC government of the day has failed to fully assert its constitutional mandate in consideration of the legal stakeholders.

I think any time a community has its watershed under potential threat, then they should have every right to have a seat at the table. Municipalities as well as First Nations should have a voice in these matters.

I think it was cooked in from the beginning by Harper that Enbridge was guaranteed their investment if the project didn’t go through, only Harper is counting on it being the BC tax payer that foots the bill in his insidious pipeline blackmail dark arts. Harper signed the FIPA deal with China with Gateway clearly in mind (long after the Gateway application started). Trans Canada has already set the precedent with their Chapter 11 lawsuit against the American government because Obama was ‘too political’ with its handling….

This is exactly what I talked about when these trade deals were signed. Corporations putting a chill on sovereign governments trying to make sovereign decisions in the best interest of the country. I called it treason at the time, and think anyone that uses this kind of corruption loop hole to bully a decision in their favor (in favor of a foreign corporation) is flirting on the line of treason.

The foreign corporation will pick this country clean and we will have no more regulatory protections of any kind… Lac Magnatic, and Walkerton will become the norm if we allow regulatory intimidation of the kind implied by the pro pipeline mob.

I think it could surely be a key test of the applicability of this type of legislation. Petro China will likely sue with the full backing of the communist party of China and Canada’s conservative party for all costs incurred($100 million), plus all lost potential profits they would have earned. To the letter of the trade agreement. I think in the end their case should be dismissed as frivolous abuse of the trade litigation process as the decisions on the pipeline were made in an open and established process that didn’t treat Gateway with any prejudice against what could be expected from another domestic applicant or competing pipeline.

Nix both pipelines would make the most sense for BC at this point… for not meeting regulatory expectations of world class spill response plans submitted in a timely manor. Trudeau has since announced a crude oil tanker ban on the BC coast, so that closes the door on any future proposals and the case is closed with no legal liability by any potential litigants. If the corporations sue than use the best lawyers available and go after full costs from the litigants.

If Alberta can learn to add value and ship by rail then all the power to them.

Contractor wrote: “It is no democracy wherein insignificant groups of purported stakeholders can shut down or impede the economy of western Canada.”

Actually it is.

First Nations are not insignificant. They may be small in number but they are strong in having defined constitutional and treaty jurisdiction of traditional lands. Democracy does not play a part in that. Natural justice does. That goes right back to William the Conqueror’s days and the foundation of English Common law.

It is Alberta’s natural resources which are being transported across provincial boundaries, not BC’s.

In fact, I would go so far as to say that the Feds must ensure that BC’s resources, such as water, wildlife, forests, etc. are not laced ion jeopardy due to potential pipeline failures. Not only that, but they must provide the payment for the cost of cleanup and restitution in case the provincial resources are damaged.

Why would I pay to determine whether, by allowing a neighbouring landowner to cross over my lands with farm machinery, there would be any harm to my land. My neighbour should pay for that and provide insurance to save me harmless.

It is a basic principle which should be true in the case under discussion. If that does not hold, then there is something wrong with our constitution and federal laws.

The province made the right decision in the first place. They have eminent domain, not the feds.

Eagleone wrote: “The BC Supreme Court is simply stating that the BC government of the day has failed to fully assert its constitutional mandate in consideration of the legal stakeholders.”

As I wrote above, the other point of view is that the primary responsibility rests with the feds to protect the provincial lands and resources since it is they who wish to allow a transprovincial pipeline. Having jurisdiction/authority comes with duties. The Feds have not done their duties and the BC Judge has failed to acknowledged that the Feds have such duties, just as they have duties, as the Crown, to have meaningful consultation (and all that the word means as per court judgements to this day) with First Nations.

So crusty tried to cut corners and was caught failing to consult. I wonder how much that cost, and to start a new consult. We’ve already destroyed so much of our lands the future generation’s voice is already echoin back to us. May they forgive our stupidity and greed. What a time to live.