First Nations launch court challenges against Pacific Link pipeline's fast-track status

VANCOUVER · Ten First Nations have filed legal challenges in Federal Court against the federal government's decision to list the proposed Pacific Link oil pipeline as a project of national interest. The Tsartlip First Nation on Vancouver Island and the St’at’imc Chiefs Council, representing nine nations in B.C.'s Interior and Fraser Valley, argue Ottawa failed to adequately consult them before fast-tracking the project's review. The nations say the designation, announced by Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith last month, is unlawful and puts salmon, fishing rights and their communities at risk. The Tsartlip First Nation's application for judicial review states the government has not "given sufficient information about the project and its potential impacts." It asks the court to confirm the government must "meaningfully consult" the nation before deciding if the pipeline is in the national interest. The St’at’imc Chiefs Council said approving the project without a full assessment of risks and without ensuring the consent of all impacted nations is unacceptable.

"The national interest designation concerns a multibillion-dollar publicly funded project that is not expected to be completed until 2032," said Tsartlip spokesman Adam Olsen, a former B.C. Green legislator. "Yet the consultation and decision-making process happened in less than three months." Olsen called the move to fast-track the regulatory process "reckless." The designation means the project would undergo a streamlined review by the federal major projects office.

The Pacific Link was the first project designated under the Building Canada Act. Nosy Mag reported in October that the federal and Alberta governments would fast-track the pipeline to carry oil to the B.C. coast. The proposed pipeline would largely follow the existing Trans Mountain route to an export terminal in Metro Vancouver, with an estimated cost between $35.2 billion and $42.7 billion. The nine applicants from B.C., along with Cold Lake First Nation in Alberta which filed a challenge earlier in October, argue cabinet did not discharge its duty to consult. They also contend the government failed to act consistently with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act. "This project being pre-approved does not meet the standard not only of free, prior, and informed consent, but the minimum standard of consultation," said Terry Teegee, regional chief of the British Columbia Assembly of First Nations.

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The newly formed Major Projects Office consulted with over 130 Indigenous communities between July 3 and Sept. 18 before the designation. The applicants argue this process was inadequate and occurred during the busy summer months. "We were reached out to be engaged in late July with the deadline, and my community, we had a wildfire right above our community where it was two, five kilometers away and the letters came in," said St’át’imc Chiefs Council Chairperson Chief Justin Kane.

Justice Minister Sean Fraser said last week the government is confident the Building Canada Act is Charter compliant. "We believe that we’ve met the constitutional obligations that we have to act within the spheres of authorities that we have, while respecting importantly the rights of First Nations communities and Indigenous rights holders more broadly," Fraser said. "To the extent that there are concerns, my hope is that we can work through them through negotiation." Olsen expressed concern that more projects could be similarly designated, citing last week's listing of the Port of Vancouver's Roberts Bank Terminal 2 expansion as a project of national interest. "How this decision is made will shape every one that follows, for our people, for future generations and for every community, First Nations or otherwise, that could be next," Olsen said. The Major Projects Office is expected to begin its review of the Pacific Link project in early 2027.

With files from The Canadian Press, The Globe and Mail and CityNews