Canada appeals decision delaying N.W.T. land and water superboard
Federal government filed its appeal of Tlicho injunction earlier this week
The federal government is appealing a recent court decision delaying the government's plan to amalgamate the territory's land and water boards and make other changes to the N.W.T.'s regulatory system.
On Monday, lawyers for Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada filed the appeal with the Court of Appeal of the N.W.T.
"We have been clear that we will vigorously defend the new regulatory framework," a spokesperson for Aboriginal Affairs said.
The federal lawyers are arguing that an injunction granted by Northwest Territories Supreme Court Justice Karan Shaner was based on flawed legal reasoning.
Shaner granted the injunction on Feb. 27, at the request of the Tlicho government. Unless it's overturned, the current system of regional land and water boards remains in place at least until a larger court case about the constitutionality of merging the boards is heard.
"I think it's not in the least surprising," Nuri Frame, a lawyer for the Tlicho government, said of the appeal.
Frame says the earliest a public hearing on the appeal could be heard is June.
He says it's "premature" to say whether the Tlicho Government would take its case for an injunction to a higher court if the N.W.T. court of appeal overturned the injunction.
The superboard, which would remove the Wek'eezhii, Sahtu and Gwich'in land and water boards, was supposed to launch next week.
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