Abstract
Abstract
Environmental impact assessment is viewed as an integral planning tool with respect to the sustainable development of land and natural resources, as it has the potential to protect the different values held by individuals and groups when done appropriately. This article examines an approach by the Environmental Assessment Office of British Columbia, Canada, regarding the scope of a cumulative effect assessment for the environmental assessment process of a proposed coal mine project that is endangering a threatened herd of caribou relied upon by West Moberly First Nations (an Indigenous group in Canada) for cultural subsistence. A Canadian-based equality framework is used to ground the environmental justice analysis. We conclude that the government's application of its discretionary powers in this case resulted the cultural values of West Moberly being given a diminished level of protection and benefit of the law in comparison to the social values held by mainstream society.
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