The Peel land use plan is heading to the Supreme Court of Canada, though there are no guarantees the court will agree to hear an appeal.

The coalition that sued the Yukon government over the land use plan hosted a press conference late this morning to announce it will ask the highest court to hear an appeal of last month’s decision by the Yukon Court of Appeal.

“We will seeking leave to appeal in order to protect the integrity of the modern treaties in the Yukon and to make sure the land use planning process set out in those agreements is upheld by the government of the Yukon,” said Vancouver lawyer Margaret Rosling.

Rosling pointed out that Justice Ron Veale of the Yukon Supreme Court and the three justices of the Court of Appeal all found fault with the territorial government’s participation or lack of participation in the Peel planning process.

As a result, Veale ordered the government to throw out the land use plan it put together all by itself and instead adopt the plan recommended by the six members of the Peel planning commission.

The Court of Appeal, however, said forcing the government to accept a land use plan it did not support would not achieve the reconciliation the modern day treaties were meant to achieve.

Instead, the Court of Appeal set aside Veale’s order and instructed the parties to return to the planning process at the point where the government first failed to participate honourably.

The lawyer told reporters this morning the decision by the appeal court benefits the Yukon government, even though it was the government that was at fault to begin with.

Permitting the Court of Appeal decision to stand would also establish a dangerous precedent for future land use planning exercises, Rosling said.

Rosling said the application to the Supreme Court of Canada requesting permission to appeal will be filed sometime before Christmas.

As a rule of thumb, the high court only agrees to hear between 10 and 15 per cent of the cases it is asked to hear.

Rosling said she believes her clients have a good shot at having their appeal heard because it involves the interpretation of modern day treaties, which is of national importance.

The coalition will ask the Supreme Court to uphold Veale’s ruling, which forces the government to adopt the final land use plan recommended by the commission, she said.

Chiefs of the two First Nations and representatives of the two environmental organizations which launched and won the original lawsuit were gathered this morning to explain their decision to seek leave to appeal.

Rosling is with Aldridge & Rosling, the Vancouver law firm which represents the coalition, with renowned aboriginal rights lawyer Thomas Berger leading the legal team.

Berger is recovering from major surgery and was unable to be in Whitehorse this morning. He is expected to make a full recovery in a couple of months, she said.

“We understand the challenges that are in front of us and we understand we must meet them head-on to protect the integrity of our agreements as well as the land use planning process,” Chief Roberta Joseph of the Tr’ondek Hwech’in said this morning.

After Premier Darrell Pasloski and his Yukon Party government rejected the land use plan recommended by the Peel planning commission, it implemented its own plan.

The First Nation of Nacho Nyak Dun, the Tr’ondek Hwech’in, the Yukon Conservation Society and the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society launched a lawsuit in the Yukon Supreme Court challenging the government’s land use plan.

Justice Veale ruled in favour of the coalition.

The Yukon Court of Appeal agreed with Veale’s finding that Pasloski’s government was not upfront and forthright as it should have been during the planning process.

But instead of forcing the government to adopt the planning commission’s recommendation, it ordered the parties back to the planning process at the point where the commission delivered its original recommendation to the government in 2009.