Clyde River may have uphill battle to block seismic testing

People in Clyde River are hoping a court challenge will block plans to do seismic testing off Baffin Island and thegroup who launcheda court challengewill have to prove the National Energy Board didn't do its job.

On Monday, the mayor, hamlet and hunter's and trapper's association asked a federal court to overturn the National Energy Board's decisionto approve an application to do seismic testing in Baffin Bay and Davis Strait. They saidthe NEB did notproperly consult their community.

RobertJanes, alawyer with experience in Nunavut, describedClyde River's court challenge as"hard, but notunwinnable."

"That the National Energy Board failed to consider something they should have, failed to properly take into account environmental factors, or failed to take into account certain aboriginal law issues," saidJanes.

This is notthe first time Inuit have gone to court on seismic testing.In 2010, the Qikiqtani Inuit Association successfully stopped it from happening on Lancaster Sound.

But thatcase was heard by the Nunavut Court of Appeal,where judges are more familiar with Inuit traditional knowledge.Since this case challenges the NEB, the case must be heard by the Federal Court of Appeal.

"You have a group of judges who are not scientists, who are not acquainted with the North, who are not necessarily acquainted with energy policy and they look at the National Energy Board and say, 'Well look, this is the special tribunal that was set up to deal with these issues. Who are we to be interfering with them'," saidJanes.

Whatever the outcome of the court case,Janes saidthe case will bring more attention to how consultations are done.

Clyde River's caselooks at a pressing legal issue for all aboriginal Canadians: consultation. Janes defendedOntario's Grassy Narrows First Nationin its bid to stop a logging permit.He saidthe Clyde River case will look at how communities are consulted about resource development.

"This is a hugely important question, as the National Energy Board is now fully in charge of dealing with the environmental issues and regulatory issues with all these massive energy projects across the country."

Janes saidFirst Nations in British Columbia aremaking a similar case regarding consultations the Northern Gateway Pipeline.