Category: Aboriginal Page 14 of 32

The Intersection of Discretionary Powers, Fiduciary Duties, the Public Interest and the Standard of Review

On October 3, 2017

By: Nigel Bankes

PDF Version: The Intersection of Discretionary Powers, Fiduciary Duties, the Public Interest and the Standard of Review

Case Commented On: Coldwater Indian Band v Canada (Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development), 2017 FCA 199 (CanLII)

In this decision, the Federal Court of Appeal, by a majority (per Justice Eleanor Dawson, Justice Donald Rennie concurring; Justice Wyman Webb, dissenting), concluded that the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development breached the fiduciary duty he owed to the Coldwater Indian Band when he approved the assignment of a pipeline right of way easement of 1955 from one affiliate of Kinder Morgan Canada Inc to another affiliate without taking steps to improve the terms of the bargain or at least to ensure that the Crown had been vigilant in its continuing fiduciary obligation to preserve and protect the Band’s interest in the reserve land from an exploitive or improvident bargain. Since the matter came before the Court as an application for judicial review, the Court set aside the Minister’s decision and returned the matter to the Minister for redetermination in accordance with the Court’s reasons. An earlier application by the Band to prevent the Minister from granting approval to the assignment had been dismissed by the Federal Court on the basis that that the application was premature; see the decision in Coldwater Indian Band v Canada (Indian Affairs and Northern Development), 2014 FCA 277 (CanLII). For my earlier post on those proceedings see here.

Clyde River and Chippewas of the Thames: Some Clarifications Provided But Some Challenges Remain

By Nigel Bankes

On August 4, 2017

In Aboriginal, Energy

By: Nigel Bankes

PDF Version: Clyde River and Chippewas of the Thames: Some Clarifications Provided But Some Challenges Remain

Cases Commented On: Clyde River (Hamlet) v Petroleum Geo-Services Inc., 2017 SCC 40 (CanLII) and Chippewas of the Thames First Nation v Enbridge Pipelines Inc., 2017 SCC 41 (CanLII)

The Supreme Court of Canada has rendered judgment in two cases involving the National Energy Board (NEB) and the duty to consult Indigenous communities. One decision, Clyde River, involves an authorization granted to Petroleum Geo-Services Inc (PGS) to conduct marine seismic testing in Baffin Bay and Davis Strait under the terms of the Canada Oil and Gas Operations Act, RSC 1985, c O-7 (COGOA). The Supreme Court of Canada concluded that the Crown had failed to discharge its duty to consult and accommodate and that as a result the NEB authorization should be quashed. The second decision, Chippewas of the Thames First Nation (CTFN), involves an order by the NEB under s 58 of the National Energy Board Act, RSC 1985, c N-7 (NEBA) exempting Enbridge Pipelines Inc (Enbridge) from the need to obtain a certificate of public convenience and necessity under s 52 of NEBA and at the same time amending the operation of part of Line 9 (Line 9B), to authorize reversing the flow of the line, increasing its capacity and allowing for the transportation of heavy crude. The Supreme Court of Canada concluded that the Crown was entitled to rely on the procedures adopted by the NEB in engaging with CTFN to discharge the Crown’s duty to consult and accommodate and that those procedures in this case were adequate.

The Federal Response to the Report of the Expert Panel on the Modernization of the National Energy Board

By Nigel Bankes

On July 14, 2017

In Aboriginal, Energy, Environmental

By: Nigel Bankes

PDF Version: The Federal Response to the Report of the Expert Panel on the Modernization of the National Energy Board

Document Commented On: Environmental and Regulatory Reviews, Discussion Paper, Government of Canada, June 2017

Professor Mascher has provided an overview of this Discussion Paper. This post highlights how the Discussion Paper responds to the Report of the Expert Panel on the Modernization of the National Energy Board. This is not a straightforward task for two reasons. First, while the Discussion Paper contains one page that is devoted to “modern energy regulation” (at 20) there are references throughout the document that are perhaps also relevant to the National Energy Board (NEB) as well as the other regulatory processes that are under review. Second, and more importantly (and as has already been highlighted by Professor Mascher), the Discussion Paper is not directly responsive to the Report of the Expert Panel. While there are a few quotations from the Expert Panel Report (and from the other review processes) scattered through the Discussion Paper there is no systematic tabulation of Expert Panel recommendations against the responses of the Government of Canada with perhaps (no doubt wishful thinking on my part) some supporting reasoning. Instead, all that we have is a set of high level proposals.

The NEB Modernization Report

By Nigel Bankes

On June 14, 2017

In Aboriginal, Energy

By: Nigel Bankes

PDF Version: The NEB Modernization Report

Report commented on: Forward, Together: Enabling Canada’s Clean, Safe and Secure Energy Future, Report of the Expert Panel on the Modernization of the National Energy Board, May 2017, and Volume II, Annexes.

This post provides a summary of and preliminary comments on the Report of the Expert Panel on the Modernization of the National Energy Board (NEB), which was released in May 2017. The Report begins with an overview of “What the Panel Heard” and then articulates a set of five principles which underlie the Panel’s recommendations. The Panel follows this with a statement of the Panel’s vision for Canada’s regulator of energy infrastructure and then a set of recommendations focused around six key themes for realizing the Panel’s vision. These recommendations constitute the meat of the report. The six key themes are: (1) mandate, (2) relationships with Indigenous Peoples, (3) governance and decision-making, (4) public participation, (5) Î-kanatak Askiy Operations (keeping the land pure), and (6) respect for landowners.

Federal Court Grants Alberta Leave to Intervene in TransMountain Proceedings: Has Alberta Earned the Privilege?

By Shaun Fluker

On June 2, 2017

In Aboriginal, Intervenors and Standing, Oil & Gas

By: Shaun Fluker

PDF Version: Federal Court Grants Alberta Leave to Intervene in TransMountain Proceedings: Has Alberta Earned the Privilege?

Case Commented On: Tsleil-Waututh Nation v Canada (Attorney General), 2017 FCA 102 (CanLII)

In Tsleil-Waututh Nation v Canada (Attorney General) Justice Stratas deals with two leave to intervene motions filed in the consolidated Kinder Morgan TransMountain pipeline judicial review proceedings currently before the Federal Court of Appeal. Justice Stratas grants Alberta’s application to intervene on the presumption that the Crown represents the interest of Albertans in the proceedings (at paras 11-27) and denies the application to intervene made by the Tsartlip First Nation on the basis it is really an application for judicial review under the guise of an intervention and its submissions would be duplicative of existing parties (at paras 35-54). Both applications were opposed by existing parties – the Tsleil-Waututh Nation opposed Alberta’s intervention and Kinder Morgan opposed the Tsartlip intervention. This comment focuses on the reasoning given by Justice Stratas in granting Alberta intervener status in these proceedings, and in particular I question why Alberta was not asked to justify or explain its basis for intervening in these proceedings. The privilege of representing the public interest is something which must be earned, and it isn’t clear to me Alberta has done so in this case.