Supreme Court to decide this week on Yukon Peel watershed appeal

A major decision for Yukon is coming this week from the Supreme Court of Canada.

The court willannounce Thursday whether or not it will hear an appeal by a group of Yukon First Nations and environmental groups. They wantan earlier decision by the Yukon Court of Appealon the Peel planning process overturned.

That ruling quashed the Yukon Government's Peel land use plan, sending the process back to an earlier stage for more consultation.

Conservations groups and First Nations believe the ruling was a mistake in law that ignored First Nation land claim agreements.

"While it did confirm Yukon Government failed to honour treaty obligations, the remedy in our opinion leaves the Peel watershed vulnerable to development and does not uphold the integrity of the final agreements," saidChristina Macdonald, executive director for the Yukon Conservation Society.

The territorial government has argued againstthe Supreme Court getting involved, sayingthere's no issue of national or public importance at stake.

The government is at odds with First Nations and environmental groups over how much of the Peel River watershed shouldbe protected from development.