{"id":101232,"date":"2026-01-19T09:00:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T14:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=101232"},"modified":"2026-01-19T09:00:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T14:00:15","slug":"skeena-sawmills-forest-licence-transfer-quashed-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/19\/skeena-sawmills-forest-licence-transfer-quashed-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Skeena Sawmills forest licence transfer quashed"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Bob Mackin, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Prince George Citizen A BC Supreme Court judge has set aside the Minister of Forests\u2019 approval of the Skeena Sawmills forest licence transfer to a numbered company owned by the Kitsumkalum First Nation. The Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs applied for judicial review because the licence area of the Terrace-based company includes land claimed by the Gitanyow. Kitsumkalum does not have Aboriginal rights to harvest in the area. In a Jan. 7 decision, Justice Matthew Kirchner agreed with the nine hereditary chiefs that the province failed in its legal duty to consult and accommodate Gitanyow when it approved the licence transfer to 1355387 BC Ltd. \u201cThe matter must be reconsidered by the minister following proper consultation in accordance with these reasons,\u201d Kirchner ruled. The matter… <\/p>\n

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By Bob Mackin, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Prince George Citizen A BC Supreme Court judge has set aside the Minister of Forests\u2019 approval of the Skeena Sawmills forest licence transfer to a numbered company owned by the Kitsumkalum First Nation. The Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs applied for judicial review because the licence area of the Terrace-based company includes land claimed by the Gitanyow. Kitsumkalum does not have Aboriginal rights to harvest in the area. In a Jan. 7 decision, Justice Matthew Kirchner agreed with the nine hereditary chiefs that the province failed in its legal duty to consult and accommodate Gitanyow when it approved the licence transfer to 1355387 BC Ltd. \u201cThe matter must be reconsidered by the minister following proper consultation in accordance with these reasons,\u201d Kirchner ruled. The matter... <\/p>\n

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Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-101232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"\nSkeena Sawmills forest licence transfer quashed - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/19\/skeena-sawmills-forest-licence-transfer-quashed-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Skeena Sawmills forest licence transfer quashed - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Bob Mackin, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Prince George Citizen A BC Supreme Court judge has set aside the Minister of Forests\u2019 approval of the Skeena Sawmills forest licence transfer to a numbered company owned by the Kitsumkalum First Nation. The Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs applied for judicial review because the licence area of the Terrace-based company includes land claimed by the Gitanyow. Kitsumkalum does not have Aboriginal rights to harvest in the area. In a Jan. 7 decision, Justice Matthew Kirchner agreed with the nine hereditary chiefs that the province failed in its legal duty to consult and accommodate Gitanyow when it approved the licence transfer to 1355387 BC Ltd. \u201cThe matter must be reconsidered by the minister following proper consultation in accordance with these reasons,\u201d Kirchner ruled. 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