Pictou Landing First Nation v Nova Scotia (Aboriginal Affairs), 2018 NSSC 306

This application was heard in the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia, and it occurred after the decision in Pictou Landing First Nation v Nova Scotia (Attorney General), 2014 NSSC 61.

The circumstances of the case were as follows: Northern Pulp Nova Scotia Corporation operated a pulp mill. As a result of the mill, an effluent treatment facility was in place at Boat Harbour, Pictou County, in the Province of Nova Scotia. In this instance, the applicant, Pictou Landing First Nation, sought to have judicial review of a decision by the provincial Minister of Aboriginal Affairs to deny consultation with respect to the issue of whether the province of Nova Scotia should fund the construction of a new effluent treatment facility at Boat Harbour. 

The Court first considered whether the applicants had been treated in a procedurally fair way by the Nova Scotia Office of Aboriginal Affairs, and it found that they had not been treated unfairly. From there, the Court addressed whether the Province owed Pictou Landing First Nation a duty to consult. Ultimately, the Court determined that a funding decision by the provincial government triggered the duty to consult, as it was contemplated Crown conduct that affect the Aboriginal and treaty rights of Pictou Landing First Nation adversely. 

Issues raised in this decision were brought before the courts again in Nova Scotia (Aboriginal Affairs) v Northern Pulp Nova Scotia Corporation, 2019 NSCA 12.

View the Decision on CanLII: https://www.canlii.org/en/ns/nssc/doc/2018/2018nssc306/2018nssc306.html

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