Supreme Court’s land-rights ruling could imperil Northern Gateway pipeline

The right of aboriginal groups to control vast swaths of land, and gain new leverage over lucrative development projects, will be at stake when the Supreme Court of Canada rules Thursday in a case pitting the small Tsilhqot’in Nation, a group of 3,000 people, against the government of British Columbia.

The case could be important for the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline, which would carry bitumen oil from Alberta to Kitimat, B.C., and for other development projects wherever aboriginals have not signed away their rights to assert their claims to the land.

The implications are huge. “I’m certain Northern Gateway is crossing land that is not subject to treaty and could be subject to aboriginal title,” Mr. Rosenberg said. Although Northern Gateway is not directly at issue in the case, the court’s decision could change the rules of the game for the pipeline. Current law requires that aboriginal groups along its route be consulted and accommodated, but groups that can assert that they have title might have the power to stop the pipeline from going ahead, Mr. Rosenberg said.