Lubicon Lake allowed to continue anti-fracking protest for now
Hearing will continue on Monday
A Calgary judge has ruled members of the Lubicon Lake First Nation will be permitted to continue protesting fracking on their land for now.
Lubicon Lake residents have spent the last three weeks protesting fracking activity at Sawn and Haig Lakes.
Penn West, the company doing the work, is trying to get an immediate order to dismantle the peaceful assembly.
Instead of granting the order for Penn West in court on Friday, the judge postponed the hearing of the application until Monday, giving the First Nations group a few more days to protest.
Members of the First Nation say the land in question holds deep cultural, historical and environmental significance.
In a release Saturday, Chief Bernard Ominayak said the court ruling represents a unique victory for the Lubicon and proponents of the anti-fracking movement.
“This was an unexpected victory and we are particularly grateful for the work of our lawyer ... for his outstanding efforts on this.”
Lubicon Lake is about 450 kilometres north of Edmonton.