KAKISA - The Federal Court has ruled in Ka'a'gee Tu's favour in two related cases against the government of Canada.

In a ruling on July 20, Justice Edmond P. Blanchard said that the government violated Ka'a'Gee Tu's right to meaningful consultation before a final decision was made on a modified land use permit granted to Paramount Resources Ltd. in 2005.

Heading into the court battle, Ka'a'gee Tu First Nation (KTFN), the band from Kakisa, argued that Paramount's project in the Cameron Hills negatively affected established treaty rights and asserted aboriginal rights and, therefore, Canada had a duty to consult and accommodate before approving the project.

The court found that KTFN was excluded from the final consultation to amend the permit, during which 12 of the 17 recommended measures made on the environmental assessment report were modified before the final approval for the land use permit was made.

"There was simply no consultation, let alone any meaningful consultation at this stage," wrote Blanchard in his reasons for the decision.

The court therefore ordered that Canada must engage in a process of meaningful consultation with KTFN and accommodate their concerns if necessary.

Kakisa is considering the ruling a victory, said Chief Lloyd Chicot.

"There's quite a bit of satisfaction from the decision," said Chicot.

"We've been waiting pretty much all summer to hear what they were going to say."

When the case began, Chicot said he wasn't sure the matter would go anywhere because of the enormity of the task of taking on Canada. The ruling has made it worth the effort.

"It's pretty exciting in our community right now," he said.

In a related ruling, Blanchard said that the modified land use permit issued on Sept. 29, 2005 for an extension project in the Cameron Hills area will be set aside. However, Blanchard provided an opportunity for Paramount and the KTFN to continue with the project under the land use agreement.

The ruling allows time for Paramount and the band to negotiate whether or not to start a consultation process.

Until those negotiations are concluded the project is on-hold and failure to agree on a new consultation process will activate the ruling voiding the land use agreement.

Blanchard used the grace period as an opportunity for Paramount and the KFTN to resolve their differences.

Blanchard reasoned that he was not convinced that an immediate quash of the project was in the best interest of either the band or Paramount.

The KFTN may now have the opportunity to consult on recommendations they felt were ignored when the land use plan was amended, thus sparking the court case.

The band had put a number of recommendations forward and they were ignored and the band was excluded from the final negotiations, said Chicot.

He said that the court's decision will send a message to Canada that in the North and around the country they have to honour agreements that are already in place when dealing with First Nations.

The decision also shows that even without a settled land claim, Canada has to listen to aboriginal groups whose lands are being affected by development, Chicot said.

"We've always had control. We've never given it up to anybody," said Chicot.

Canada and industry will also have to look at how they include First Nations in decisions, he said. In his experience, Chicot said that industry and government always work together to support one another.

"Through the back door they work together," said Chicot.

The case with Paramount should serve as an example, he said.

Shirley Masskant, the manager of regulatory and community affairs for Paramount Resources Ltd., said the company was very interested in the court's direction in the first case ruling the Crown had to conduct further consultation with the band.

Paramount cannot comment on the second case relating to what will happen with the land use permit in question because "the matter is still before the courts," said Masskant.

"The second decision is certainly important to ongoing operations," Masskant said.

The extension project for Paramount involved getting land use permits and water licenses to access new well sites and tie in new wells to its gathering system.

The modified land use permit gave approval for five additional wells before a more extensive program that could involve the drilling, testing and tie-in of up to 50 additional wells over a period of 10 years.