Scott Niedermayer, Kathryn Teneese and Adrian Dix

The 20-year battle against a year-round ski resort proposal in the Purcell Mountains has finally ended in defeat for the Ktunaxa Nation and its allies, with a 7-2 decision by the Supreme Court of Canada. Led by Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin … the court ruled that constitutional protection for religious expression does not extend to the Ktunaxa’s claims about Jumbo Glacier, as the East Kootenay alpine basin is known. …Retired hockey player Scott Niedermayer came up from his California home to add his vague notion of grizzly bear habits to the message, which was to reject a B.C. environmental permit to build Jumbo Glacier Resort. …This expensive public relations and legal offensive was supported by a U.S.-based environmental group called Yellowstone to Yukon, which wants to extend national park status far into Canada.