New Brunswick Premier David Alward planned to meet with all of the province’s First Nations’ chiefs on Monday, but the meeting was cancelled after the chiefs refused Alward’s invitation.

“I meet with them on an ongoing basis and I’m disappointed they have decided not to meet today, but my door is open always and continues to open and I look forward to meeting them,” says Alward.

Instead, First Nations chiefs spent Monday at a Fredericton courthouse, arguing for a court injunction to prevent the provincial government’s forestry plan from going further.

The New Brunswick government announced its forestry plan in June. The 10-year plan, a pillar of the Progressive Conservative government's platform, gives forestry companies access to 3.9 million cubic metres of softwood on Crown land -- a hike of 20 per cent.

The Tories say the strategy will create jobs and rejuvenate the forestry sector, but critics say it disregards the environment and gives too much Crown land to the private sector.

Alward says he won’t speak about the case while it is before the courts.

“What I will say is that I have full confidence in the work we’ve begun with First Nations chiefs from New Brunswick,” says Alward.

While in court, the chiefs argued there hadn’t been enough consultation with the First Nations community for government to go ahead with the forestry plan.

Lawyers representing the industry argued there had been consultations, and said an injunction would shut down the province’s wood industry.

“I wish it had happened earlier. I wish it had happened the day after the Crown forest strategy was released, but look, legal cases take time,” says Lois Corbett of the New Brunswick Conservation Council.

Supporters of an injunction say they have doubts about what decision will be made.

“I’ll be surprised if we get this injunction,” says St. Mary’s First Nation resident Alma Brooks. “I just don’t have any faith in the court system, that’s all.”

If an injunction is granted, a court hearing would follow to further discuss what happens to the government’s strategy.

Judge Judy Clendening of the Court of Queen's Bench says she will deliver her decision Friday afternoon.

The forestry sector contributes $1.45 billion a year to New Brunswick's economy and employs nearly 22,000 people.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Nick Moore and The Canadian Press