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Alberta Premier Jason Kenney hailed Tuesday’s decision by the Federal Court of Appeal to dismiss legal challenges to the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion approval as a “victory for common sense and the rule of law.”

In a 3-0 decision, the court dismissed four challenges to the approval filed last summer by Indigenous groups in British Columbia, saying in the 95-page decision that “there is no basis for interfering” with the federal cabinet’s go-ahead.

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The decision paves the way for construction to continue on the project, though the First Nations have 60 days to appeal to the Supreme Court.

“This project has been through years and years of the most detailed and vigorous environmental review and Indigenous consultation,” Kenney told reporters in Montreal on Tuesday.

According to the court’s decision, of 129 Indigenous groups invited to participate in the consultation process, more than 120 either supported the project or did not oppose it, Kenney noted.

“So please remember that when you see one or two groups expressing opposition,” he said. “They are trying to veto the right of over 95 per cent of the affected First Nations to benefit economically, to move their people from poverty to prosperity.”

Kenney said the “historic and critical decision” would help create certainty regarding the future of major resource projects.