Taseko Mines Limited v. Phillips

Taseko Mines involved permits to undertake more exploratory work and to clear timber granted by the B.C. Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) while Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) undertook a 90-day study to determine if Taseko’s new project description should go to environmental assessment. The Tsilhqot'in First Nation has been granted an injunction preventing Taseko Mines from conducting exploration work around its proposed gold and copper mine in B.C.'s central Interior.In the same court hearing, Taseko failed in its bid for an injunction forcing the First Nation to stop blocking the mine company's access to the site outside of Williams Lake. The Court found that whether the Crown had discharged its duty to consult in issuing exploration and cutting permits to Taseko was a serious question to be tried. With respect to the question of irreparable harm, the Court found that loss of consultation is not necessarily an irreparable harm in itself, but a factor to consider when weighing the balance of convenience. The Court concluded that without the injunction the Tsilhqot’in "will have lost their asserted right to be consulted at a deep level in relation to the exploration program, and their petition will become moot and found that this potential harm to the respective Aboriginal rights and the public interest weighed in favour of granting the injunctions. In relieving the Tsilhqot’in of the requirement to provide an undertaking in damages, the Court in Taseko Mines considered how heavily the balance of convenience favoured the Tsilhqot’in, the relative economic strength of the parties, the importance of matters proceeding on an appropriate basis in the future and noted that the Tsilhqot’in advised Taseko not to commence work under the permits until they had considered their options for response