Sagkeeng loses legal battle over hydro line
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/10/2021 (1739 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
MANITOBA’S highest court has rejected a First Nation’s attempt for a judicial review of the province’s decision to go ahead with a hydro transmission line.
The Court of Appeal dismissed legal arguments from Sagkeeng as it challenged the lower court decision’s to reject its judicial review application in 2018.
The band wanted the court to review the environment minister’s decision to build the Manitoba-Minnesota Transmission Project.
The hydro line construction was under appeal by five other First Nations and the Manitoba Metis Federation, but it ultimately became operational in June 2020, crossing Treaty 1 land in southern Manitoba, although not on reserve land.
Sagkeeng didn’t join the appeal process along with other First Nations. When their judicial review application was rejected as being premature because an administrative review process was available under Manitoba’s Environment Act, lawyers instead took the fight to the Court of Appeal. They argued the tribunal appeal process under provincial law carries the potential for bias because of its ties to the provincial cabinet.
The Court of Appeal sharply dismissed Sagkeeng’s arguments and refused to delve into legal questions about Manitoba’s duty to consult First Nations. It decided the lower court had properly considered those arguments. The ruling was issued Oct. 21 by Justice Holly Beard and was co-signed by Justices Diana Cameron and Lori Spivak.
Lawyers for Sagkeeng brought up issues of constitutionally protected Indigenous rights and raised concerns about systemic bias.
They argued the appeal process under the Environment Act raises a “reasonable apprehension of bias” because the legislation gives power to the minister, who has close ties to the premier. They pointed to public statements and a tweet from then-premier Brian Pallister voicing his support for the hydro project.
Allegations of institutional bias weren’t properly put before the appeal court, which doesn’t retry cases, and only considers legal errors, Beard wrote in the decision, so the court didn’t consider any of the allegations of bias on the part of the former premier.
fpcity@freepress.mb.ca