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Court to decide if Haida Gwaii Management Council can be sued

A recent ruling by the B.C. Supreme Court finds its unclear whether or not the Haida Gwaii Management Council (HGMC) can be sued.
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An aerial photo shows recent logging on Graham Island, Haida Gwaii. (Haida Gwaii Observer/File photo)

A recent ruling by the B.C. Supreme Court finds its unclear whether or not the Haida Gwaii Management Council (HGMC) can be sued.

Teal Cedar Products intends to sue the HGMC for what the company says was a breach of its duty to show good faith and honesty in contracts.

Teal held a Tree Farm Licence on Haida Gwaii, but in 2012 it and other logging companies saw their harvesting volumes fall because the HGMC reduced the islands’ annual allowable cut.

Created by the Haida Gwaii Reconciliation Act in 2012, the HGMC is a five-person body with members appointed both by the province and by the Council of the Haida Nation.

Among other powers, the HGMC assumed the B.C. chief forester’s authority to set the annual allowable cut for Haida Gwaii forests.

Lawyers for the province asked the court to throw out Teal’s lawsuit, arguing that any civil liability falls not on the HGMC, but on the province.

For one thing, the province’s legal team pointed out, the HGMC does no business, has no bank account, has no staff of its own, and has no powers to raise or borrow money.

But on Oct. 26, Justice Nathan Smith of the B.C. Supreme Court ruled there is not enough evidence yet to show that the HGMC can’t be sued.

While it may not be necessary to bring Teal’s lawsuit to full trial, Justice Smith said the court lacks the information needed to resolve the issue.

“The question is whether the legislature intended the HGMC to be a body that can sue or be sued,” he wrote.