Court rejects oilsands case

An Alberta First Nation that says its treaty rights were violated when the province granted oilsands leases to Shell Canada Ltd. has lost its bid to take the case to the country’s top court.

The Supreme Court of Canada announced Thursday it would not hear the appeal from the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, whose case had been summarily dismissed by an Alberta court.

Shell’s Athabasca Oil Sands project, is in the First Nation’s traditional territory in northeastern Alberta.

Under the treaty, provincial policy is to consult with aboriginal groups when development could adversely affect traditional uses and their constitutionally protected rights to hunt, trap, and fish.

But the government says it deals with those issues later in the process, and does not consult at the preliminary lease-granting stage.