Legal Win for Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha Nation: B.C. Supreme Court Strikes Down Substantial Start Determination for KSM Mine and Orders Proper Consultation; Quashing Led to Justice Not Ruling on SSD Reasonableness

Press Release

HAZELTON, BC, June 9, 2026 – Yesterday, the B.C. Supreme Court issued its decision on the Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha (TSKLH) Nation’s petition for judicial review of the Province’s July 2024 decision to grant a Substantial Start Determination (SSD) for Seabridge Gold’s KSM mine in Northwestern B.C. Finding in favour of Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha, Justice Burke determined the Province breached its constitutional duty to appropriately consult the Nation. The Court overturned KSM’s SSD. It also directed the Province to consult with Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha and to give the Nation 90 days to provide written submissions before any reconsideration by the Ministry of Environment takes place.

“We’re relieved the Province is finally required to consult properly, based on its own conclusion that our territory bears the brunt of the environmental risks of the toxic waste dump for the world’s largest gold mine, threatening our pristine traditional waterways,” said Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha Chief Darlene Simpson.

The toxic tailings pond for KSM is expected to be approximately 52 storeys deep and is currently planned for construction on land that is the exclusive traditional territory of Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha.

In her ruling, Justice Burke found “The TSKLH had worked with the Province in good faith for many years to develop a detailed ethnohistoric assessment because of the Province’s commitment that it would form a ‘principled basis for the ongoing relationship’. At a critical time, however, the Province in effect disregarded those conclusions about the strength of the assessed claim without good reason.”

Justice Burke’s ruling stated the Province’s findings in its Updated Ethnohistoric Report, which included recognition of Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha’s traditional territory in the Treaty Creek Valley area, required a higher level of consultation than took place and should have informed the Province’s decision on granting the SSD. In the absence of this, Justice Burke found the SSD was based on critically incomplete information.

Also central to Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha’s case was the assertion that signing agreements with other First Nations did not constitute adequate engagement, as the Nation’s own concerns were left unaddressed.

“The decision is important not only for the Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha but for all First Nations,” said Ryan Beaton, legal counsel for Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha. “It lets the Province know it can’t ignore the concerns of small First Nations, particularly when they are most impacted. It upholds the constitutional requirement that all Nations have the same rights, regardless of size.”

Having held that the SSD had to be struck down for inadequate consultation, Justice Burke expressly declined to decide whether the grant of SSD was otherwise unreasonable.

The Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha Nation are descendants of the Laxwiiyip Tsetsaut, an independent self-governing people who occupied Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha territory at the time the British Crown asserted sovereignty in the region. For more information, visit tsklhnation.ca.

Media Contact: Karen McCluskey, Tel: 778-319-0149, Email: mccluskey.karen@gmail.com

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