A lawyer for Trans Mountain Corp. is defending the government’s consultation with Indigenous groups over the Crown corporation’s operation and construction of its pipeline project.

Maureen Killoran says the $10 billion project has twice been declared in the national interest by a government that weighed various priorities, perspectives and interests.

The Federal Court of Appeal in Vancouver is hearing arguments about whether a new round of consultations with Indigenous groups on the project was adequate after the same court quashed the government’s initial approval of the pipeline.

Killoran told a three-judge panel that the latest round of consultations builds on more than six years of work by Trans Mountain to engage with Indigenous groups and other affected communities, and that will continue through the project life cycle.

But she says arguments by four First Nations who allege the government failed again to meaningfully engage them before approving the project for the second time should be dismissed.

Killoran says the same First Nations failed to engage with Trans Mountain in good faith or at all, are relitigating issues that were raised in the original case or have taken positions that are effectively a veto against the project.

“We say that such defences serve as a complete bar to the applicants in this case,” Killoran said.

The three-day hearing to consider challenges launched by the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, Squamish Nation, Coldwater Indian Band and a collective of Stó:lō bands in the Fraser Valley concludes Wednesday.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has twice approved a plan to triple the capacity of the pipeline from Alberta’s oilsands to a shipping terminal in Metro Vancouver.

Several First Nations, environmental groups and the City of Vancouver had originally filed challenges making a range of arguments including that the project threatens southern resident killer whales.

The court allowed six First Nations to proceed with an expedited hearing focused on the federal government’s consultation with Indigenous communities between August 2018 and June 2019.

Two First Nations have since dropped out of the appeal after signing deals with Trans Mountain Corp.

The Tsleil-Waututh and environmental groups filed leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, arguing that a broader hearing was necessary, but the high court has not yet issued a decision.

The governments of Alberta and Saskatchewan, which support the pipeline expansion, have joined the case as interveners.

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