Dene Tha’ loses law suit against B.C. development

Dene Tha’ First Nation lost its bid to stop the sale of oil and gas tenure in their territory. B.C. Supreme Court Justice Christopher Grauer found that the Dene Tha’ had been properly consulted on the B.C. government’s sale of exploration rights on 21 parcels of land, most for shale gas development in northeastern B.C. However, in his written judgment Grauer says the depth of consultation will only increase as the possibility of real development nears. Grauer says he does not doubt the force of the Dene Tha’s concerns about everything from the survival of endangered caribou to their economic future. The B.C. government made more than $400 million from the tenure sales. The Dene Tha’ filed the lawsuit against the B.C. Ministry of Energy and Mines, Nexen Inc., Penn West Petroleum Ltd., and Vero Energy Inc., claiming the band was not adequately consulted. In a letter quoted in the judgment, Dene Tha’ Chief James Ahnassay wrote to the B.C. Aboriginal Affairs minister in August 2009 saying his band was not anti-development but the government’s approach of dealing with each project separately meant the cumulative effects on the area were not taken into consideration.