Fort Smith (Feb 23/04) - A proposed winter road through Wood Buffalo National Park (WBNP) has cleared its latest -- and possibly last -- legal hurdle.

On Feb. 13, the Federal Court of Canada quashed an injunction against the project.

The federal Department of Canadian Heritage, which is responsible for Parks Canada, appealed the Federal Court's granting of the injunction in late 2001. Fort Chipewyan's Mikisew Cree First Nation obtained the injunction after arguing its treaty rights had been violated because it had not been properly consulted on the road project.

"I'm very happy with the decision," says Fort Smith Mayor Peter Martselos, a prominent supporter of the winter road proposal. "What I'm hoping for is all the parties work together for the betterment of each community involved."

Martselos hopes this is the end of the court challenges to the road.

"It's been a long struggle," he says.

The injunction had stopped construction of the 118-km route between Peace Point and Garden River as it was about to begin.

"Although, as a matter of good practice, the minister might have consulted more extensively with the Mikisew before approving the road, she was not constitutionally obliged to do so," wrote Justice Marshall Rothstein in the judgement, which was concurred to by another judge.

However, in a lengthy dissenting opinion, a third judge called the consultation process "fundamentally flawed."

Richard Power, the project co-ordinator with the Thebacha Road Society, says the Mikisew Cree can still appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, but he hopes that won't happen.

The appeal hearing was heard in Edmonton on Sept. 29. The road society was a respondent in the process.

Neither the chief nor lawyer of the Mikisew Cree could be reached for comment.

Josie Weninger, the superintendent of WBNP, says the park is still analyzing the court decision, and it is too early to make any public comment.

The winter road idea -- commonly called the "road south" -- has been floating around Fort Smith for decades. However, it was only in May 2001 that then Canadian Heritage Minister Sheila Copps approved construction in the park.

The project was also unsuccessfully challenged in court by the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, which argued the federal minister exceeded her power in approving the road.