Ski resort a step closer after high court ruling in Grizzly Bear Spirit case
OTTAWA — Approval of a ski resort in a region held sacred by Indigenous people does not violate their constitutional right to freedom of religion, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled Thursday.
A senior Indigenous leader said the decision demonstrates a lack of knowledge.
“That’s sacred ceremonial grounds. That’s where our relatives, the grizzly bear, live. And if their habitat is somehow destroyed, you are destroying our relatives,” Perry Bellegarde, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, said in Ottawa.
“To me, it is a bit of a lack of awareness and understanding through the Supreme Court about that world view.”