The Supreme Court of Canada has quashed plans for seismic testing in Nunavut, delivering a major victory to Inuit who argued they were inadequately consulted before the National Energy Board (NEB) gave oil companies the green light to conduct this disruptive activity... [T]he top court ruled the NEB's consultation process in Clyde River was "significantly flawed," and gave little, if any, consideration to the treaty rights of Inuit and their reliance on marine mammals for subsistence... [and] rescinded the NEB's 2014 decision to grant a five-year permit to the companies to conduct seismic testing...The significance of this "consultation" process was not explained to the Inuit, the court said. When officials from the company did eventually answer basic questions about the impact on marine mammals such as whales and narwhals, it did so by electronically delivering a 3,926-page document that was virtually inaccessible for residents of the northern locale with limited internet access. The document was largely in English, while residents are overwhelmingly Inuktitut speakers... Petroleum Geo-Services, the Norwegian company that was poised to begin seismic testing, said it, "always complies with the rules and regulations in the countries where we operate and will need to consider our plans for any future seismic acquisition in this region accordingly."...

In [another] decision, the top court ruled unanimously that Enbridge could proceed with its reversal of the Line 9 pipeline in southwestern Ontario, arguing the Chippewas of the Thames were given enough say ahead of the project's construction... [T]he Supreme Court ruled the federal government could rely on the NEB to carry out that consultation on its behalf. Some Indigenous activists have said a quasi-judicial body tasked with energy regulation should not play that role; the court clearly disagreed.