It's up to Indigenous, environmental groups to protect the public interest

(Photo by Ken Balcomb, Center for Whale Research, pic from Washington Post) This article is Part 2 of a 2-part series which was originally published in The Lawyer's Daily on September 17, 2018. The link to Part 1 which was published Sept.11, 2018 is provided below. Despite objections from some of the Indigenous groups about the consultation process, the Federal Court of Appeal (in Tsleil-Waututh Nation et al. v. Canada (Attorney General) 2018 FCA 153) held that Canada acted in good faith and that the consultation framework it used was appropriate. This was a four-phase process which was to include (1) early engagement, (2) NEB hearing, (3) governor-in-council consideration and (4) regulatory authorization processes. Where Canada fell down was in Phase III of the consultation process in that it did not meaningfully consider the concerns of the Indigenous groups or attempt to accommodate or mitigate those concerns. There was no substantive discussion about Indig