Case information

None.

Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

As found by the Federal Court of Appeal, the Appellants is a First Nation entitled to the benefits of Treaty No. 8. The reserve at Peace Point is surrounded by Wood Buffalo National Park. The 1986 agreement under which the Appellant's reserves were created provided for the continuation of hunting rights in the park, subject to regulation and to the advice and recommendations of a Wildlife Advisory Board, which included representatives of the Appellant. The Respondents are the Minister of Canadian Heritage who approved the re-establishment of a winter road in the park and a private group, The Thebacha Road Society, composed of various interests including other First Nations who would benefit from the opening of the winter road. This winter road would connect the permanent road between Fort Smith, N.W.T. and Peace Point with the Alberta highway system at the south west boundary of the park. It would create a 200 metre wide road corridor where use of firearms would be prohibited.

The Appellant had a number of concerns about the effect of the proposed winter road. These included concerns about trapping in the vicinity of the road, environmental concerns and increased poaching. The Appellant became extremely frustrated with the manner in which Parks Canada was handling the notification and consultation process and, indeed, only learned that the road's proponents and Parks Canada had been having discussions when approval was very near. The Appellant's chief asked to be involved in any negotiations with respect to an alternative route but was met with vague information. The Appellant was also excluded from the process of choosing the alternative route which tracked the reserve 10 metres from its boundary. A local park official, when confronted with the Chief's dissatisfaction at a meeting where he learned of the realignment, apologized in writing to him and the First Nation. This dissatisfaction was later expressed at a meeting between the Appellant and the Park Superintendent. The Minister eventually approved the winter road.

The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society's application for judicial review to challenge the Minister's decision was dismissed on October 16, 2001. The Appellant also filed its application for judicial review. In addition to the issues raised by the Wilderness Society's application, this application relied on grounds specific to the Appellant. Hansen J. allowed the application and set aside the Minister's order on the basis that the rights of the Mikisew people under Treaty No. 8 were infringed because the Minister's decision was not preceded by adequate consultation. The Minister appealed that judgment and sought restoration of the Minister's decision. The majority of the Federal Court of Appeal allowed the appeal. In that court the intervener the Attorney General of Alberta raised the argument of whether approval of the road was a "taking up". The Respondent had included this argument in the materials, but did not rely on it at the hearing.