Four indigenous communities, including the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, are fighting the Trans Mountain pipeline and tanker project in the Federal Court of Appeal (FCA) today.
Along with the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, Squamish Nation, Coldwater Indian Band, and the Ts’elxwéyeqw Tribes – a group of seven Stó:lō bands with territories near Chilliwack are part of the appeal.
From December 16-18, 2019, the appeal court will hear arguments from four First Nations who are challenging the government’s approval of the Trans Mountain Expansion Project.
The First Nations believe that the review has the potential to delay pipeline construction by quashing cabinet’s approval, as was done in the August 2018 Tsleil-Waututh vs. Canada decision.
The Nations argue that the federal government’s attempt to fulfill the constitutionally required duty to consult once again fell well below the mark set by the Supreme Court of Canada.
The Nations say the consultation was poorly organized and rushed, and did not engage substantively with the concerns expressed by the First Nations. Since the federal government is also the owner of the pipeline project, it puts the First Nations in a challenging position, they say.
‘Many of the First Nations argue that the consultation efforts were not approached with an open mind, and that approval was a foregone conclusion, making the consultation a box-ticking exercise.’
Litigants highlighted a number of flaws in Canada’s consultation process:
“Federal officials altered Canada’s peer reviews of the science, which largely agreed with TWN expert reports that there is a lack of information about diluted bitumen, its behaviour and effects. That is not honourable consultation. It appears as though their minds were closed to anything other than enthusiastic approval.” said Chief Leah George-Wilson, Tsleil-Waututh Nation.
The full-day hearings begin today at the Federal Court of Appeal in Vancouver, and are expected to run through Wednesday, December 18th.
The FCA granted leave to the four First Nations on September 4th, 2019, but limited the grounds of appeal to the re-initiated consultation efforts by the federal government.
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