B.C.'s new approach to Trans Mountain a threat to Trudeau's indigenous agenda

Transcription

1 MANAGE ACCOUNT (/ACCOUNT-2) Politics Policy Opinions IPolitics Briefs IPoliticsLIVE IPoliticsINTEL Podcasts B.C.'s new approach to Trans Mountain a threat to Trudeau's indigenous agenda James Munson ( Sunday, August 13th, 2017 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau laughs with Assembly of First Nations Chief Perry Bellegarde during National Indigenous Peoples Day celebrations in Ottawa on Wednesday, June 21, ipolitics/matthew Usherwood Energy & Environment ( The Trans Mountain Pipeline is about to make things even more awkward for the Liberal government. As if the accusations of hypocrisy over Prime Minister Justin Trudeau s support for both the pipeline and climate change action were not enough, along came the B.C. government to point out the project s conflict with the federal government s plans to expand the rights of Indigenous Peoples. In a news conference in Victoria Thursday, B.C. Attorney General David Eby and Environment Minister George Heyman unveiled the province s plan to

2 and Environment Minister George Heyman unveiled the province s plan to thwart the Trans Mountain Expansion Project by forcing new terms on the project s backers. The B.C. government will lean on several legal pressure points, all pertaining to aboriginal law. Under the guidance of former judge Thomas Berger whose inquiry into the Mackenzie River Gas Pipeline in the 1970s in many ways set the stage for how aboriginal land claims interact with project proposals the B.C. government will insert itself into two existing legal cases against the project, both brought on by First Nations. In one of those legal challenges a judicial review of Trans Mountain s permits before the Federal Court of Appeal the provincial government will seek to become an intervenor. As well, the province signalled that Kinder Morgan Canada, the company behind the project, will have to contend with a tougher approach to the project s construction and maintenance conditions, which were jointly determined by B.C. and Ottawa. That s because both governments signed an equivalency agreement to approve the project, reducing the project s two environmental assessment permits to just one. These new tactics likely mean a broadening of the responsibilities the B.C. government will think the Crown has when its regulators interact with First Nations a broadening that could be at odds with the federal government s own plans to raise Aboriginal law standards. While the federal government has been indicating it s changing its position, the new provincial government in B.C. is changing its position even faster, said Bruce McIvor, a principle with First Peoples Law in Vancouver with expertise in aboriginal consultation law. The Trans Mountain project, which is estimated to cost $7.4 billion, received its joint federal-provincial environmental assessment permit with the thanks of what s sometimes referred to as the duty to consult and accommodate framework. Using guidance from past court decisions, it s how the federal government (as well and provinces and territories) determines whether an Indigenous nation was adequately consulted when a project crosses its lands and whether it s also been adequately accommodated if the impact on its lands is profound. In Trans Mountain s case, for example, a joint federal-provincial report found that 39 First Nations in B.C. were owed a deeper level of consultation, seven aboriginal groups were owned a middle-to-deep level of consultation, 29 were somewhere in the middle and 21 were owned a low degree of consultation. The governments determined, in the end, that the consultation done by regulators enabled a meaningful and responsive two-way dialogue and that accommodation, subject to several conditions, would be satisfactory too. The duty-to-consult model does not require governments to get the consent of a First Nation for a project. But in some rare cases, like when a court has agreed a nation has title to land, consent is required. After Thursday, B.C. could be about to change that. ( LIVE WIRE Only the news you need, from all the sources you know. Trump may not get the 'win' he seeks in NAFTA talks ( win-nafta-talks ? lo=ap_e1) From ( - Today, 6:06 AM ( After getting advice from Berger, there s a good chance the provincial government will come out and will say that, Our position has also evolved and our position now is that in these types of applications, given the facts, there was a requirement to reach and obtain First Nation consent, at least from those First Nations that are most likely to be the most impacted by the project, said

3 Nations that are most likely to be the most impacted by the project, said McIvor. This could be awkward for the Trudeau government, given that it s also slowly stepping in this direction though it s unclear how far it would like to go. The federal government unveiled Principles respecting the Government of Canada s relationship with Indigenous Peoples last month, a short document that nonetheless packs a punch in terms of the potential changes it augurs for Canadian policy-making. Considered a kind of administrative document that will guide how federal public servants handle interactions with Indigenous nations, it makes reference to the cutting edge concepts in Aboriginal law among them free, prior and informed consent (FPIC), which the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples says governments must achieve when approving development in traditional territories. ( win-nafta-talks ? lo=ap_e1) All We See Is Dead Bodies : Floods and Mudslides Ravage Sierra Leone ( leone-floodsfreetown.html?_r=0) From ( - Today, 6:06 AM ( The document also commits Canada to securing FPIC in a way that builds and goes beyond the legal duty to consult a direct contradiction of the way Trans Mountain was approved. Canada will look for opportunities to build processes and approaches aimed at securing consent, as well as creative and innovative mechanisms that will help build deeper collaboration, consensus, and new ways of working together, the document says. Given the document is still in its infancy, it s still not clear what all this could mean. Dwight Newman, Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Rights at the University of Saskatchewan, pointed out in a recent Globe and Mail op-ed that the language of aiming to secure FPIC is different than an actual commitment to obtain it. If people thought this government was going further, well, here s a sign they re not necessarily going further in terms of FPIC rather than a consultation framework and an attempt to get consent where possible, said Newman. Still, by mentioning FPIC at all, there s still the germ here of a radical change to Canada s regulatory process compared to the way Trans Mountain was approved. The duty to consult doctrine doesn t really require an attempt to get consent. It s more about an effort to obtain information about impacts on aboriginal and treaty rights and to accommodate where possible those impacts, said Newman. The Department of Justice, which is spearheading the implementation of the Principles, couldn t provide a response outlining how the document would affect current litigation like the one involving Trans Mountain. The news release announcing the document said it will guide a review of laws, policies and operational practices. ( leone-floods-freetown.html? _r=0) Trump campaign s show aide s repeated efforts to set up Russia meetings ( campaign- s-showaides-repeated-efforts-toset-up-russiameetings/2017/08/14/54d08da6-7dc2-11e7-83c7-5bd5460f0d7e_story.html? hpid=hp_hp-more-top- stories_russians- 558pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory) From ( hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_russians- 558pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory) - Today, 6:04 AM ( This issue is set to come to a head in November, when the Federal Court of Appeal begins looking at the argument made by many B.C. First Nations that the joint environmental assessment permit for Trans Mountain wasn t done with adequate consultation. And the B.C. government, as an intervenor in the case, will be cheering them on. Contact James Munson at jmunson@ipolitics.ca (mailto:jmunson@ipolitics.ca) or follow him on Twitter ( campaign- s-show-aides-

4 Like Share 49 people like this. Be the first of your friends. 7 Comments Sort by This thread is closed Roger Murphy Lets hope the Trans mountain gets cancelled, the faster BC crashes the clearer the lesson will be, very expensive yes but we have a province full of people that have little idea where the money comes from for our generous social services and expensive public sector unions, nothing educates faster than pain. 2 Aug 13, :01pm Beatrice Darlene University of Toronto All resource sector jobs are fewer than 4% of jobs nationally. More Canadians work in culture/media/entertainment. People should stop believing in myths and look at the actual facts. Roger Murphy 7 Aug 13, :13pm Beatrice Darlene its a myth that recources are not foundational to our prosperity in Canada, look at what the downturn in oil did to us. The fact is that resource jobs generally pay multiple times more than the jobs you mentioned and generate far more in taxes and trade balance. When times get tough people still need energy but will quickly cut the dining out and entertainment expenses. You could just as easily have said that there are more people on welfare than work in resources, it would have been just as irrelevent, stop believing in myths. Top campaign- s-show-aidesrepeated-efforts-to-set-uprussiameetings/2017/08/14/54d08da6-7dc2-11e7-83c7-5bd5460f0d7e_story.html? hpid=hp_hp-more-top- stories_russians- 558pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory) Raise HST by one percentage point to fix roads, bridges, says municipalities group Toronto Star ( hst-by-one-percentagepoint-to-fix-roads-bridgessays-municipalitiesgroup.html) From ( - Today, 6:04 AM ( 2 Aug 13, :29pm Brian Critchley I know this might shock you Albertians but BC isn't dependants on the scraps your province sends us. Transmountain in the long run isn't all that important to our economy one way or another. 4 Aug 13, :59pm Show 6 more replies in this thread ( hst-by-one-percentage-pointto-fix-roads-bridges-saysmunicipalities-group.html) Thomas McClung Esquimalt Secondary School THe NDP/Green coalition of socialists will raise taxes, limit growth, expand government and do exactly nothing for the environment and or the people. In a year,maybe two taxes will be higher, jobs will be fewer, investment will dry up and subsidized special interest groups will multiply. This province, with the potential to be the strongest in the country, will be reduced to a high tax low productivity special interest basket case where the only growth will be registered in the government and consultants. Aug 14, :52am Em Hess The govt received approval from the majority of the FN along the route. NDP is making fools of themselves. 1 Aug 13, :39pm Edited Rob Black Esquimalt, British Columbia If his agenda was to push the puck back up the ice and hide behind his own net... Then yes, I could see how Horgan might challenge that. Aug 13, :45am Brenden Phillips The best thing for Canada is to build the pipeline. Not sure why it's taking so long. Aug 13, :41pm Robert Pariseau Montréal-Nord, Quebec Rebel Media co-founder quits over company's perceived ties to right-wing groups ( media-co-founder-quitsover-companys-perceivedwhite-supremacistties/article /) From ( - Today, 5:47 AM ( (

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