News Category: Public Law

Court allows Saik’uz and Stellat’en First Nations to seek new declaratory relief in Alcan Claim

In a decision issued January 30, BC Supreme Court Justice Nigel Kent granted the Saik’uz and Stellat’en First Nations permission to amend their court claim to seek declaratory relief should they prove their allegations against Rio Tinto Alcan.

Coldwater Indian Band and Squamish Nation challenge Trans Mountain pipeline

Three First Nations have announced they’re taking legal action challenging the federal government’s approval of the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project.

Ratcliff lawyers put First Nations Consultation at centre stage before NEB

In a heated final argument Thursday, Squamish First Nation lawyer Aaron Bruce told the NEB that it cannot recommend the Trans Mountain expansion project’s approval because the federal government “recognizes the current process is deficient to address First Nations concerns. We shouldn’t be here today.”

Ratcliff represents city of Burnaby at NEB Trans Mountain hearings

The National Energy Board should suspend its review of the Trans Mountain pipeline until Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reforms the national regulator, said Ratcliff lawyer Gregory McDade on behalf of the City of Burnaby.

Fort Nelson First Nation gets Nexen fracking water license overturned

The Fort Nelson First Nation, represented by Ratcliff lawyers James Tate, Nathan Hume and Michelle Bradley, has won a potentially precedent-setting decision from the B.C. Environmental Appeal Board that cancels the water licence of a natural gas fracking operation in northeast B.C.

Saik’uz and Stellat’en First Nations successful in appeal against Rio Tinto Alcan Inc.

Ratcliff lawyers Greg McDade and Melinda Skeels succeeded at the BC Court of Appeal in Saik’uz First Nation and Stellat’en First Nation v. Rio Tinto Alcan Inc.

Ratcliff lawyers successfully defend Burnaby’s right to enforce its bylaws

In what’s considered a huge win for the City of Burnaby’s legal battle to stop the Trans Mountain Expansion Project, the National Energy Board struck down the company’s application to forbid Burnaby city staff from blocking the pipeline company’s test drilling on Burnaby Mountain in a protected conservation area.

Oral hearings quietly vanish from Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline review

Ratcliff lawyer Greg McDade speaks out on behalf of his client, the City of Burnaby, on the issue of the National Energy Board cutting all cross-examination from the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipeline review process.