Of the 16 judicial challenges that the Trans Mountain pipeline project has survived so far, none is as important as one handed down this week by the B.C. Supreme Court.

The court actually ruled in two separate lawsuits, one filed by the City of Vancouver and the other by the Squamish Nation. But, make no mistake − it is the second that is so consequential and portends well for the company in terms of the legal matters still outstanding.

To understand why the Squamish case is so important, one has to go back to a Federal Court of Appeal decision in 2016 regarding Enbridge’s proposed $7.9-billion Northern Gateway pipeline. Approved by the National Energy Board and the federal cabinet, the court found that Ottawa failed to properly consult First Nations communities along the planned route. That ruling effectively killed the venture there and then.

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Kinder Morgan was always aware of the concerns expressed by aboriginal groups in northern B.C. that there had been insufficient consultation around the Gateway project. Both Enbridge, and the federal government at the time, had been publicly criticized for the poor job they had done in trying to get First Nations groups educated about both the overall project and the measures being undertaken to mitigate potential risks. Kinder Morgan was determined not to make that mistake, determined that inadequate conferral would not be something that killed its project. It pushed the federal government on this front, too.

That First Nations groups would one day launch court actions to try and stop it was a given. And the Squamish, among other aboriginal groups, complied.

Of all the lawsuits levelled against the project, Kinder Morgan was still most nervous about the ones involving First Nations. Courts at all levels had, in recent years, sided heavily in favour of Indigenous groups, when it came to areas such as land rights and consultation.

There’s always been a feeling that if anything was going to threaten Trans Mountain, it would be a legal ruling that sided with a First Nations group opposed to the project – which is why Justice Christopher Grauer’s decision this week is so consequential.

While going to great pains to make it clear what his two rulings were not about – whether the project should go ahead, whether it is in the national interest or whether it presented unacceptable risks to the environment – he said in the case of the Squamish that he was satisfied that the consultation that took place as part of the NEB’s assessment process was adequate.

“I find that … consultation and accommodation sufficient to satisfy section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, had occurred, was reasonable and entitled to deference,” Justice Grauer ruled in dismissing the Squamish’s petition.

Of course, this is not the end of it. It never is with this project. There is still the reference question that the B.C. government is sending to the courts on jurisdiction. And the Federal Court of Appeal is soon expected to render a decision in a massive case, involving, among others, several First Nations groups along the coast and the B.C. Interior. It also centres around the question of consultation, and whether there was enough of it prior to the NEB and the federal cabinet approval of the pipeline expansion.

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It doesn’t necessarily follow that because the B.C. Supreme Court has ruled that consultation was sufficient, the federal appeal court will, too. But most legal observers believe that Justice Grauer’s decision certainly bodes well for Kinder Morgan, which must be anxiously awaiting the federal court’s verdict. Whether the company still has the stomach to go ahead with this endeavour is another matter.

If the company sells the project to Ottawa and walks away, which it could, it would be a seminal moment in the history of resource development in this country. Despite what federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau might say, there does not appear to be a lot of suitors waiting in the wings to take over this project should Kinder Morgan decide to wash its hands of it. (And increasingly, that is a view that many are subscribing to).

In the end, the project could end up surviving every court challenge thrown its way and still not proceed. Why? Because people may not have the appetite for the on-the-ground fight that still lies ahead. First Nations groups may lose their legal challenges, but win in the court of public opinion, especially after images of protesting aboriginal elders being carted away by Mounties or the army start being broadcast around the world.

Kinder Morgan could win all the battles and still lose the war.