CALGARY – A Supreme Court ruling on aboriginal title has not swayed Enbridge Inc.’s outlook for its controversial Northern Gateway pipeline to the West Coast.
CEO Al Monaco told an energy conference that the decision reinforces the approach Enbridge had been taking all along when it comes to First Nations consultation.
The high court decision last month granted aboriginal title — for the first time in Canadian history — to the Tsilhqot’in Nation in the B.C. Interior.
The ruling was celebrated by critics of Northern Gateway, which would ship 525,000 barrels of diluted bitumen per day from the Edmonton area to Kitimat, B.C.
Enbridge (TSX:ENB) says it has reached agreements with 26 First Nations along the pipeline’s proposed route, which goes through large tracts of First Nations territory that have not been ceded to the Crown.
Ottawa gave the project the conditional green light last month, but Enbridge has said it’s in no rush to begin construction.