@FlambeauNice summary, I agree it will be a battle in any...

@Flambeau
Nice summary, I agree it will be a battle in any appeal.

Probably the thing I would add is I would likely expect that BPH would be privy to the NOPTA advice at some point in the appeal. Usually, in appeals of government approvals, relevant matters relied upon to make a decision would be provided in disclosure (noting they might insist they remain confidential to the legal process so the shareholders likely won't be privy to the document). As the recommendation is a key focal point of the decision and runs as an administrative process under the act, it would be hard to run any appeal when the government refuses to provide the critical information for the courts to consider.

They could claim "legal privilege" but it would fail the first test being the dominant purpose that the document was created for the purposes of a legal proceeding or an impending legal proceeding. The nature of the document wouldn't satisfy that (other documents the government created could be covered), but it could be used as a strategy to frustrate the process as your remedy leds you to the high court