Kateri Vincent, a business law practitioner at Langlois Lawyers, recently commented on two Supreme Court of Canada decisions on how the National Energy Board (NEB) consults with indigenous communities when deciding on the advisability of a proposed petroleum project with potentially negative environmental impacts.
On each of the programs Cet après-midi on Ici Radio-Canada Québec and Puisqu’il faut se lever on channel 98.5 FM in Montreal, she points out the following:
“When the NEB makes a decision on a project that impacts ancestral rights or treaty rights, it is acting on behalf of the Crown, and the Supreme Court has taken the view that the Crown can rely on a regulatory or administrative body such as the NEB to fulfill its obligation to consult with indigenous communities. The Court emphasizes however that the obligation to consult and accommodate is that of the Crown alone. The Crown must therefore ensure that the process followed by the NEB or any other regulatory or administrative entity is adequate, and where the process proves to be inadequate, the Crown must intervene to remedy the procedural shortcomings and ensure that a further phase of consultation is carried out.”
To listen to the interview on Ici Radio-Canada Québec, click here.