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A B.C. judge has ruled that a provincial ministry should return to the negotiation table and consult with Secwepemc leaders before permitting a CN quarry to expand operations near the Thompson River.

In a B.C. Supreme Court judicial review decision on Oct. 12, Justice Geoffrey Gomery decided that the Chief Inspector of Mines permitted the expansion of the McAbee Quarry in 2019 without prior consultation.

Chief Ron Ignace and Chief Rosanne Casimir represented the Stk'emlupsemc te Secwepemc Nation in court, which is the body responsible for Aboriginal title and rights on the traditional territory of both Tk'emlups te Secwepemc and the Skeetchestn Indian Band.

Their intent was to set aside a work permit at the quarry amended in 2019, then shut down the McAbee Quarry when they challenged the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, along with CN in provincial court.

In 2017, Canadian National Railway applied to the province to extract more rock from the quarry per year, which would have remained within its 45-hectare footprint.

They had not notified any First Nations within the area.

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Justice Gomery found that mining inspector Rick Adams, who worked under the Chief Inspector of Mines for the Province, failed to "adequately and meaningfully consult," with the Secwepemc Nation when those negotiations "dragged on" for two years and abruptly ended.

According to court records, Secwepemc leaders had a long list of concerns about the quarry on their traditional territory including environmental impacts, economic interests and "historical infringement."

Gomery ultimately decided that both Stk'emlupsemc te Secwepemc and the Province had their own shortcomings throughout the consultation process in the work permit process.

While the ministry has a duty to consult with First Nations on matters that take place on their traditional territory, Secwepemc leaders pursued a "broad agenda" and claimed veto over the work permit approval, according to Gomery.

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"Much of this agenda had nothing to do with the quarry," Gomery said in his decision. "As a sophisticated First Nation with experience of the regulatory process and formal channels of communication with (the ministry), Stk'emlupsemc te Secwepemc was in a position to do better."

The McAbee Quarry produces a large portion of railway ballast rock used for CN railways in Western Canada.

The quarry is east of the Village of Cache Creek and near an active salmon spawning waterway, Battle Creek.

The mining inspector will now have to reconsider the CN work permit and ensure that it includes environmental reclamation costs.

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