Moulton Contracting Ltd. v. British Columbia, 2015 BCCA 89

Moulton Contracting Ltd. v. British Columbia, 2015 BCCA 89

In this important appeal decision, the British Columbia Court of Appeal held that the province had no obligation to pass along information about Aboriginal dissatisfaction that may threaten the ability of a company to avail itself of rights under a license.¹

The B.C. Ministry of Forests entered into two timber sale licence agreements with Moulton, permitting Moulton to harvest timber near Fort Nelson. Before entering into the licence agreements, the province had consulted with the Fort Nelson First Nation. When Moulton's logging was impeded by a blockade by a Fort Nelson First Nation trapper, Moulton brought a claim against the province and was awarded $1.75 million in damages. The trial judge held that it was an implied term of the licences that the province was not aware of any First Nations expressing dissatisfaction with the consultation, other than what the province had already disclosed to Moulton,