The Financial Post reports in its Saturday, Oct. 3, edition that two first nations waging a court battle to overturn approval of Enbridge's Northern Gateway pipeline project say federal officials refused to discuss their claim of decision-making power over ancestral lands. A Canadian Press dispatch to the Post reports that lawyer Cheryl Sharvit said the Nadleh Whut'en and Nak'azdli are not declaring the right to veto resource projects on traditional territories in B.C.'s central interior. She said, however, the bands' asserted authority to govern their lands should have at least been considered by the Crown during consultations on Enbridge's $7-billion proposal. "The scale of the potential harm from Northern Gateway in their territory is unprecedented. They have never faced a risk this great from their perspective from a single project," Ms. Sharvit said. The Crown's refusal to first negotiate with the Nadleh and Nak'azdli "does serious damage to the goal of reconciliation and protection of aboriginal rights." The Crown excluded the issue from the talks because it decided the question of control over first nations' territories would be better dealt with in the treaty process, Ms. Sharvit said.