Court decision means First Nation has new chance to prove it needs funding for suit against feds, Alberta

A First Nation fighting what it calls overdevelopment of its territory has a second chance to convince the courts that governments should advance money for its legal bills.

An Alberta First Nation fighting what it calls overdevelopment of its traditional territory has been given a second chance to convince the courts that governments should advance money for its legal bills so it can spend the revenues it has on social needs.

In a decision released Friday, the Supreme Court of Canada overturned a ruling from Alberta’s top court that Beaver Lake Cree Nation wasn’t entitled to advance funding for its long-running legal case. The Supreme Court said the band was entitled to put first priority for the money it had on “pressing needs.”

“Allocating resources to improve deficits in housing, infrastructure, and basic social programming would, from the perspective of this First Nation government, constitute the addressing of pressing needs,” the court’s judgment said.

“We therefore disagree with the Court of Appeal inasmuch as it suggests that expenditures thereon represent ‘spending on desirable improvements’ rather than spending on pressing needs.”

But, in a unanimous decision, the court also said Beaver Lake has to go back to a lower court and work harder to prove the band’s needs are so great it can’t be expected to also fund its court action.

“There was no specific account of how much it would cost to address Beaver Lake’s pressing needs, or why no other resources were available to meet those needs,” the judgment said.

The First Nation filed the lawsuit against the federal and Alberta governments in 2008, arguing the Crown had allowed so much development on the band’s traditional lands that it was impossible to exercise treaty rights or to live a Cree life.

“There are multiple places we can no longer go to,” said band spokeswoman Crystal Lameman. “There are multiple examples of roads that are no longer accessible, trails that are no longer accessible, by way of lease pads or no trespassing signs put up by industry.