The West Kootenay EcoSociety’s legal challenge to the creation of a municipality with no residents will finally be heard two years after the case began.
Two days have been set aside in BC Supreme Court in Vancouver starting Monday of next week in which the society will argue the incorporation of Jumbo Glacier Mountain Resort municipality was unlawful and unconstitutional.
“This is a case about democracy and the rule of law,” EcoSociety lawyer Judah Harrison told the Star. “We are not challenging the Jumbo project per se. It’s about holding public officials to account.”
Harrison said a judicial review differs from a typical court case in that there is no oral evidence. The court’s decision will be based on affidavits provided by both sides and other written submissions setting out legal arguments.
The EcoSociety filed its initial petition in February 2013 and completed an amended brief last August. “The complexity of this case delayed it somewhat,” Harrison said. “It’s really novel stuff.”
Nevertheless, he said it wasn’t unusual for a lawsuit of this magnitude to take this long to reach court. He doesn’t expect a ruling for at least a few months.
Although the petition was filed in Nelson, the hearing will be in Vancouver at the request of Jumbo municipality’s lawyers. Harrison said they agreed to the move because a majority of the participants in the case are based there, and it could potentially save the EcoSociety costs. “It’s almost like hedging our bets. If their lawyers come to Nelson, and we lose, we have to reimburse them.”
The province formed Jumbo Glacier Mountain Resort municipality in late 2012 and appointed a mayor and two councillors, although no one yet lives at the resort, first proposed in 1991.
The resort would include more than 20 ski lifts and accommodation for over 6,000 people in an alpine village 53 km west of Invermere.
The proposal has also faced a court challenge from the Ktunaxa Nation Council. The Environmental Assessment Office issued a letter warning the project hadn’t met its obligations to protect the environment and critics claim the proponents haven’t made enough progress to maintain their permits.
The project is on hold pending a report on whether the day lodge would be in a known avalanche path. The Minister of Environment must also decide if the project substantially started by October 12, 2014, ten years after receiving environmental approval.