• B.C. First Nations file legal challenges to feds’ Pacific Link pipeline decision

  Source: Global News Politics
  Date: 2026-11-02 22:44:54.0
  Tags: [National, British Columbia, Alberta, Infrastructure, Energy, Environment, Indigenous, Resources]

  First Nations in British Columbia, including the Tsartlip First Nation, Boston Bar First Nation, Cheam First Nation, Lower Nicola First Nation, Kwantlen First Nation, Kwikwetlem First Nation, Skeetchestn Indian Band, St’at’imc Nation, and T’Sou-ke First Nation, have filed eight separate legal challenges in Federal Court against the federal government's decision to grant national interest designation under the Building Canada Act to the proposed Pacific Link oil pipeline. The multibillion-dollar project, carrying an estimated price tag between $35.2 billion and $42.7 billion, is designed to run from Alberta to B.C.'s coast mostly following the Trans Mountain pipeline route and would include more than 500 river crossings, raising environmental and fishing rights concerns among First Nations over potential impacts to Fraser River wild salmon and Salish Sea tanker traffic. The legal applications argue that Prime Minister Mark Carney's government and the federal major projects office failed in their statutory duty to meaningfully consult Indigenous communities during the three-month review process.

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• Indigenous groups given just 2 months to consult on Pacific Link pipeline designation

  Source: Global News Politics
  Date: 2026-10-01 22:48:12.0
  Tags: [National, Alberta, British Columbia, Energy, Resources, Indigenous]

  The federal government has designated the Alberta-to-West Coast oil pipeline, now called Pacific Link, as a project of national interest under the Building Canada Act to fast-track its approvals. Indigenous communities along the 130-plus-community route were given an extended two-month consultation window ending September 18, 2026, though groups like the Assembly of First Nations and Cold Lake First Nations criticized the timeline and lack of detailed engineering and routing information. Prime Minister Mark Carney aims to begin construction by September 2027 to transport an additional one million barrels per day from the oil sands, while securing environmental safeguards, financing, and equity partnerships with groups such as Fort McKay First Nation.

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