Fortune gets injunction against Klappan protest

The British Columbia Supreme Court has granted an injunction ordering protestors to abandon a roadblock on the Ealue Lake road in northwestern B.C., which was denying access to the Mount Klappan coal project.

Property owner Fortune Minerals (FT-T) got the injunction after a month-long blockade of the road. The blockade was mounted by a family group in the Tahltan First Nation, the local aboriginal group, arguing that the family held traditional land rights in the vicinity of the coal project.

The injunction was supported by the official Tahltan Central Council, which had previously reached preliminary impact-benefits agreements with Fortune. The Council said the Dennis family and its supporters made up only 65 of the 6,000-member band.

Nevertheless, divisions do exist in the Tahltan band, partly over how receptive the band should be to resource development. A dissident group claiming to be representative of traditional band elders has been staging an occupation of the Council offices in Telegraph Creek, B.C., demanding that the current Chief, Gerry Asp, resign.