The suit, filed May 2008, pits Beaver Lake Cree against governments of Canada and Alberta, and lays groundwork for a new legal regime governing resource extraction on traditional lands of Canada's First Nations.

On May 14, 2008, the Beaver Lake Cree released their Kétuskéno Declaration, which asserts their role as caretakers of their traditional territories and initiates the legal action. The First Nation claims Alberta and Canada have infringed Beaver Lake's Treaty rights by approving oil and gas and other developments throughout the First Nation's traditional territory. Attached to the statement of claim is a schedule listing more than 15,000 asserted infringements of Beaver Lake's constitutionally protected rights. The court is asked to rule invalid government authorizations for thousands of petroleum projects in the First Nation' core territory.

A victory in the courts would allow Beaver Lake Cree to demand higher levels of accommodation and consultation from government and industry on operations in their territory and could set a precedent for other bands to enforce similar demands on oil-sands projects.