Case Comment: Coastal First Nations v. British Columbia (Environment), 2016 BCSC 34

On January 13, 2016, the Coastal First Nations, an alliance of eight First Nations on British Columbia's North and Central Coast and Haida Gwaii, received a favourable decision from the British Columbia Supreme Court in Coastal First Nations v. British Columbia (Environment). At issue was the role of British Columbia in the environmental assessment process for Enbridge's Northern Gateway Pipeline Project (the "Project"). The court struck down a provision in an Equivalency Agreement between the British Columbia Environmental Assessment Office and the National Energy Board that permitted British Columbia to abdicate its ultimate decision-making authority to determine whether to approve the Project after an environmental assessment. This decision is significant in light of the numerous proposed interprovincial and transcontinental oil and gas pipelines, including TransCanada's Energy East, and other major projects requiring both federal and provincial approval. For