The Tsleil-Waututh Nation legal challenge around the proposed Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion has been put on hold, for now.

Tsleil-Waututh had its second day in the Federal Court of Appeal on Jan. 22 in its challenge against the National Energy Board (NEB) review of the project.

That morning, the Attorney General of Canada was granted a three-month adjournment in part so that Tsleil-Waututh could have its first face-to-face meeting with the federal government.

Chief Maureen Thomas said it is “heartening” that the government has finally agreed to meet.

Drummers at the NEB hearing

“We have been asking for this for a very long time,” she said in a statement. “I look forward to sitting down in good faith with the Crown.”

Tsleil-Waututh is arguing that the government and NEB failed to consult with its members while designing their review process for the proposed pipeline, which would go through the First Nation’s territory.

At the time of Tsleil-Waututh’s first court date in the case, former prime minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative government was still in power.

Now Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government must advise the Crown by April 22 whether it will be changing its position in the case.

If its position does change, it must file its new arguments by April 29.

Meanwhile, members of First Nations around the pipeline route attended the NEB’s hearings in Burnaby from Jan. 19-26.

Carleen Thomas, an anti-pipeline advocate from Tsleil-Waututh, helped lead a rally in front of the hearings on the first day.

“This process is not acceptable,” she said. “It in no way, shape or form reflects or resonates the concerns that we have as citizens of this beautiful land.”