The latest round of court hearings on the issues relating to the proposed Garibaldi at Squamish resort closed this week with the sides involved still at odds over the resort proposed for Brohm Ridge.
Madame Justice M. Marvyn Koenigsberg ordered the Squamish Nation, the province of B.C. and Garibaldi at Squamish Inc. (GAS Inc.) to enter a mediation process. The judge wants the sides to deal with their non-legal disputes with the help of a professional mediator.
"The parties must mediate what I'm going to call the next stage," Justice Koenigsberg said at the end of a B.C. Supreme Court hearing in Vancouver Monday (March 21).
The hearing, which followed two days of arguments earlier this month, were triggered by a lawsuit filed by the Squamish Nation against the province.
The natives successfully argued they were not properly consulted on the project by the province. Koenigsberg ordered the sides last year to engage in meaningful consultation.
Three consultation meetings took place but the meetings failed to produce satisfactory results so the sides decided to go back before Koenigsberg seeking a legal ruling.
The Squamish Nation is unhappy with decisions made by Land and Water BC (LWBC) because they feel one key question remains unanswered. The question is whether or not there should be a resort at all. He said that key question must be answered before there is discussion of the details of the resort proposal.
GAS Inc. feels the Squamish Nation is blocking discussions by refusing to identify specific traditional uses in specific areas within the project proposal area.
During arguments this week it was revealed that the Squamish Nation was negotiating with the provincial government to take possession of a wood lot licence in the Cat Lake area at the same time GAS Inc. applied to the province expand its study area so a golf course could be built around the lake.
Squamish Nation lawyer Greg McDade said his clients worry because a series of decisions created legal rights for GAS Inc.
Two key decisions the Squamish Nation worries about are the change of control decision, which recognized Luigi Aquilini and Bob Gaglardi as the people in control of GAS INC., and the expansion decision that increased the study area size significantly.
But, Koenigsberg said she wouldn't quash those decisions made by the province.
"There is no basis yet for a real claim from the Squamish Nation, just fears," said Koenigsberg.
"There always has to be a balance between need and viability," she said.
Koenigsberg indicated she feels GAS Inc. has a vested right in the process but the company doesn't have a vested right in the land or the project and therefore does not have an expectation of a commitment from government.
McDade said his clients prefer to go into mediation without GAS Inc.
"If there is to be a mediated process we'd like that to be a mediated process that does not include GAS to make things more complicated," McDade said.
Koenigsberg didn't grant the request as she felt GAS Inc. has to be involved because the company has so much information on the project.
The justice also said if the sides can't agree on how to mediate and when to mediate the sides should there should be a mid-case update hearing with her. Koenigsberg ordered the sides to work out a cost-sharing agreement, who will mediate, the timetable and exactly what questions must be mediated.
Squamish resident and Squamish Nation member Dale Harry was in the observation gallery of the large Supreme Court hearing room. Wolfgang Richter, the original driving force behind the current resort proposal, attended and so did Heather McNight of LWBC.
