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Site C challenge dismissed

The Federal Court of Appeal has dismissed a legal challenge filed by two First Nations of the $8.8-billion Site C dam project in northeast British Columbia.

The Prophet River First Nation and the West Moberly First Nations appealed a Federal Court judge's decision to deny their application for a judicial review of the project's environmental approvals.

The aboriginal bands are among those who signed Treaty 8 in 1899, a historic agreement that grants beneficiaries hunting, trapping and fishing rights within treaty territory.

Prophet River and West Moberly argued the environmental review process for Site C should have assessed the scope of their treaty rights and determined whether the project infringed them.

A panel of three Federal Appeal Court judges issued a unanimous decision today upholding the earlier ruling, which found the environmental review process was not an appropriate venue to draw conclusions about treaty rights.

The process, conducted jointly by the federal and provincial governments, did examine the effects of Site C on Aboriginal Peoples, and the judge ruled the Crown had fulfilled its duty to consult.



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