The BC Supreme Court has thrown out a challenge by the Prophet River First Nation and West Moberly First Nations against the provincial permits issued for the Site C Dam.

“I am satisfied that the process of consultation was frustrated by the positions taken by the petitioners (the First Nations), and in particular, by their refusal to engage in consultation within a reasonable timeframe.” wrote Justice Sewell in his judgement “I am satisfied that the Province was prepared to engage in meaningful consultation and that both the Province and BC Hydro were prepared to provide funding to assist the petitioners in such consultation.”

The judge urged both the Province and First Nations to come together to create a “custom consultation process” to deal with the many issues that will arise during the decade long construction of Site C.

“I find that the petitioners have not established any basis for judicial review of the statutory decision makers’ decisions to issue the Permits.” reads the judgement.

The ruling is a significant setback for opponents of the mega project, which is slowly picking up steam. In August, there was more than 1,800 workers on site.