UPDATE: Supreme Court Rules BC Government Must Review Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline, Consult With Gitga'at First Nation

The Gitga'at First Nation and Coastal First Nations are celebrating a Supreme Court ruling today that found the BC government abdicated its statutory duties and breached its duty to consult with the Nation when it signed and failed to terminate an Equivalency Agreement that handed the federal National Energy Board (NEB) sole jurisdiction over the environmental assessment decision-making regarding Enbridge's Northern Gateway project.The ruling, which is a major victory for the Gitga'at First Nation, means the equivalency agreement is invalid, that the government must now make its own environmental assessment decision regarding the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline, and that it must consult with and accommodate First Nations along the pipeline route about potential impacts to their Aboriginal rights and title. "This is a huge victory that affirms the provincial government's duty to consult with and accommodate First Nations and to exercise its decision-making power on major pipeline projects," said Arnold Clifton, Chief Councillor of the Gitga'at First Nation. The constitutional challenge was brought by the Gitga'at First Nation and the Coastal First Nations, and was argued by Joseph Arvay, Q.C. (and his colleagues Catherine Boies Parker and Tim Dickson at Farris LLP),