The Supreme Court of Canada has made a definitive ruling, which recognizes the title that the Tsilhqot’in people have to their ancestral land in Williams Lake, BC. Their new-found authority over their land grants them the power to cancel projects that started without their consent. The Enbridge project had the federal cabinet issue an order to approve the project before gaining aboriginal consent, which now leaves them vulnerable and subject to legal cases. These court decisions have effectively stalled Enbridge’s development plans and left them in a more politically, legally, and culturally unstable operating environment. The increase in Aboriginal support and mounting legal hurdles implemented by the SCC could cause extreme delays and amendments to their previous plans. Enbridge will need to reassess their prospects, and reposition their company strategy. It’s clear that they must win-over the Aboriginal’s with land claims, and convince them of the benefit they’d receive from their project. This will be difficult seeing as the pipeline severely threatens the Aboriginal’s way of life and invades their land. The external public environment that BC offers isn’t particularly friendly to large corporations seeking to devastate land and threaten pollution, regardless of the financial gains.

Thus I believe Enbridge’s decision to seek other opportunities in more supporting environments will be more promising and productive.