Canada Trans Mountain Expansion Halted By Federal Court Of Appeal
Source: Macleans.ca
By Joan Bryden, The Canadian Press, Aug. 30, 2018. The court says the National Energy Board’s review of the project was so flawed that the federal government could not rely on it as a basis for its decision to approve the expansion.
VANCOUVER—The Federal Court of Appeal has overturned the Trudeau government’s approval of the contentious Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. In a unanimous decision by a panel of three judges, the court says the National Energy Board’s review of the project was so flawed that the federal government could not rely on it as a basis for its decision to approve the expansion.
The court also concludes that the federal government failed in its duty to engage in meaningful consultations with First Nations before giving the green light to the project.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government approved the project in 2016 and is so determined to see the line built that it announced plans this spring to buy the pipeline and expansion project for $4.5 billion.
The court ruling requires the energy board to conduct a new review—which the court suggests could be kept short—and means the government will have to redo part of its consultations with Indigenous groups.
The court combined into one case nearly two dozen lawsuits calling for the energy board’s review of Kinder Morgan Canada’s project to be overturned...More...
Read more: https://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/trans-mountain-expansion-halted-by-federal-court-of-appeal/
As for consultations with Indigenous communities, the court found that the government’s representatives “limited their mandate to listening to and recording the concerns of the Indigenous applicants and then transmitting those concerns to the decision-makers.” There was no “meaningful two-way dialogue.”
Kinder Morgan had already won several court victories, including one last week when the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed an application from the City of Burnaby to overturn a lower court decision.
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"'Great Victory For Indigenous Communities Everywhere': Canada Court Rescinds Trans Mountain Approval" 8/30/18
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/08/30/great-victory-indigenous-communities-everywhere-canadian-court-rescinds-trans
