Labrador Inuit Association v. Newfoundland (Minister of Environment and Labour), 1997 CanLII 16007 (NL SCTD)

July 18, 1997 Ryan Oxner

This case was heard in the Supreme Court of Newfoundland (Trial Division).

In the midst of an environmental assessment process that had been designed to review proposed mining and milling operations at Voisey’s Bay, the Province of Newfoundland decided to exempt certain “support works”—which included the construction of a temporary access road and airstrip—from the Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) that had been created to facilitate the environmental review. The Labrador Inuit Association and Innu Nation applied for judicial review of the Minister’s decision to exempt the “support works” from the MOU, and among other things asked the Court to declare that the access road and airstrip needed to be assessed under the environmental assessment process described in the MOU.

The Nunavik Inuit, represented by Makivik Corporation and Makivik Corporation, applied for leave to intervene in the proceedings. After consideration, the Court held that the applicants wished to raise legal issues that were different from the issues being raised by the Labrador Inuit Association and Innu Nation, and therefore should not be granted intervenor status. The Court also declined to grant the Nunavik Inuit status as Friends of the Court, and it held that there were no grounds upon which to exercise its discretion to grant them status for any other reason. Their application was therefore dismissed.

View the Decision on CanLII: https://www.canlii.org/en/nl/nlsctd/doc/1997/1997canlii16007/1997canlii16007.html

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