The Saskatchewan Green Party 100% supports
the Peter Ballantine Cree Nation in this action. - Naomi Hunter

𝗣𝗕𝗖𝗡 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗦𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘄𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘂𝗺 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁

(Prince Albert, Sask. Treaty 6 Territory) — The leadership of the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation (PBCN) filed a judicial review today in the Saskatchewan Court of King’s Bench, challenging the provincial government’s environmental assessment decision for a project located within the Nation’s traditional territory.

PBCN Chief and Council met last week and unanimously agreed to proceed with the court action after concluding that the Government of Saskatchewan failed to meaningfully consult or accommodate the Nation, as required under the Constitution Act, 1982.

“We met with the province. We sent them information. We asked to be at the table,” said Chief Peter Beatty. “Instead, our concerns were sidelined. Consultation is not paperwork — it’s a constitutional duty. Saskatchewan’s actions fell far short of that duty, and we took this step to protect our rights, land, our water, and our people.”

The project site lies roughly 35 kilometres northeast of Key Lake in Treaty 10 territory. If built, it would become the largest uranium operation in the Athabasca Basin, a scale that PBCN said demanded proper engagement, adequate capacity funding, and full recognition of the Nation’s historic and cultural connection to the land.

PBCN first raised concerns in 2022 and engaged repeatedly with provincial and federal regulators. According to PBCN, the Environmental Assessment and Stewardship Branch (EASB) did not formally acknowledge its duty to consult until November 2024, more than five years after the proponent’s environmental application was submitted and long after the environmental review had been completed.

When consultation was finally triggered, the Nation was given only six weeks to review thousands of pages of technical documents and no funding to hire experts. Requests for more time and support to complete a traditional land-use study were denied.

PBCN said the province’s failure to meaningfully engage not only undermined the honour of the Crown but also created uncertainty for the project itself. The government’s refusal to properly consult interfered with regulatory timelines and project stability, causing unnecessary delays and litigation risk.

Saskatchewan also failed to direct Denison Mines to engage with PBCN, and by the time the company attempted to do so, the process was nearly complete, leaving no opportunity to meaningfully include PBCN’s traditional knowledge in the environmental assessment or decision-making framework.

“By the time the province involved us, the key decisions had already been made,” Beatty said. “That is not consultation — that is an after-the-fact invitation to watch someone else decide your future.”

The judicial review argues that Saskatchewan adopted an unlawfully narrow approach by focusing only on “current land use” within the project footprint rather than recognizing PBCN’s broader rights, title, and traditional practices. The filing cites Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, Supreme Court precedents including Haida Nation and Tsilhqot’in Nation, and Canada’s obligations under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).

“Our ancestors signed Treaty to share the land, not to surrender it,” said Chief Beatty. “The province can’t keep treating us like an afterthought while corporations carve up our territory. We have a duty to protect the land and waters that have always sustained our people — and we won’t be silent while they gamble with our future.”

PBCN awaits a response from the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment.

Chief Beatty says the Nation is ready for a long fight if that’s what it takes.

“We’ve been here since before there was a Saskatchewan, and we’ll still be here when the mines are gone,” he said. “We’re not going anywhere — and neither are our rights.”