Indigenous groups didn’t approach pipeline consultation in good faith: lawyer

VANCOUVER – A lawyer for Trans Mountain Corp. is defending the government’s consultation with Indigenous groups over the Crown corporation’s operation and construction of its pipeline project.

Maureen Killoran says the $10 billion project has twice been declared in the national interest by a government that weighed various priorities, perspectives and interests.

The Federal Court of Appeal in Vancouver is hearing arguments about whether a new round of consultations with Indigenous groups on the project was adequate after the same court quashed the government’s initial approval of the pipeline.

Killoran told a three-judge panel that the latest round of consultations builds on more than six years of work by Trans Mountain to engage with Indigenous groups and other affected communities, and that will continue through the project life cycle.

But she says arguments by four Indigenous groups who allege the government failed again to meaningfully engage them before approving the project for the second time should be dismissed.

Killoran says the same groups failed to engage with Trans Mountain in good faith or at all, are relitigating issues that were raised in the original case or have taken positions that are effectively a veto against the project.