[IPSM] N.W.T. premier to meet with PM to discuss resource revenue, pipeline

[Macdonald Stainsby]

I have to cut this paragraph as a leader, the point is too clear to need any 
help from anyone but the reporter:

"They (Ottawa) have to come to an agreement with the Deh Cho, and if they 
are not able to do that, they have to make it clear that what the Deh Cho 
are asking for is just something that they are just not ready to accept. And 
what the Deh Cho are asking for is almost sovereignty."
---
  	
N.W.T. premier to meet with PM to discuss resource revenue, pipeline

By JOHN COTTER
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2005/04/04/982448-cp.html
		
(CP) - Northwest Territories Premier Joseph Handley is to meet with Prime 
Minister Paul Martin in Ottawa on Tuesday to press the N.W.T.'s demand for a 
bigger share of growing resource revenues.

While diamond mining is currently the sparkle of the territorial economy, 
the N.W.T. has its eyes on the vibrant oil and natural gas sectors, 
including the proposed $7-billion Mackenzie Valley pipeline.

"There is a consensus in the North that we need a better deal on 
resource-revenue sharing," Handley said Monday, noting that the N.W.T. 
delegation includes members of his cabinet as well as aboriginal and 
business leaders.

Handley said the federal government now earns in excess of $200 million per 
year in royalties. That figure is expected to skyrocket in coming years from 
oil and natural gas exploration.

"We get zero out of that. When we net out our benefit from resource 
development it works out to about four cents on every dollar. It is pretty 
small compared to what the provinces get."

The premier also has a warning for Martin about the viability of the 
Mackenzie Valley pipeline if aboriginal land claims in the area aren't 
settled more quickly.

Handley said the federal government must resolve disputes with the Deh Cho 
to prevent the project from getting bogged down in red tape over the 
pipeline's regulatory review.

The N.W.T. would like to see construction of the pipeline begin by 2007, 
with gas flowing by the end of the decade.

If the project suffers ongoing delays, Handley fears major partners such as 
Imperial Oil may switch their focus to other projects.

"There is a growing sense in the North that the (Mackenzie) pipeline is 
facing some huge challenges and is possibly in some jeopardy," Handley said 
in Ottawa.

"They (Ottawa) have to come to an agreement with the Deh Cho, and if they 
are not able to do that, they have to make it clear that what the Deh Cho 
are asking for is just something that they are just not ready to accept. And 
what the Deh Cho are asking for is almost sovereignty."

The Deh Cho First Nations are a group of about 4,000 Dene in the 
southwestern part of the N.W.T.

The band has filed a lawsuit arguing it hasn't been given enough input into 
the joint review panel looking at the project, even though about 40 per cent 
of the possible pipeline route is over its land.

The lawsuit seeks to have any decision reached by the panel ruled invalid.

Imperial Oil is partners in the Mackenzie gas project with Shell Canada, 
Imperial's parent company ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips and several aboriginal 
groups.

Hart Searle, spokesman for the project, declined comment on the dispute with 
the Deh Cho, saying it is a matter for the federal government and the band 
to address.

But he acknowledged any delay in the complex pipeline is a concern.

"The situation with the Deh Cho is one of those aspects that does create 
some sense of uncertainty," Searle said from Calgary.

"Delays, by virtue of the regulatory process, can add to cost and impact the 
viability of the project. The economics of this project are not robust."

Deh Cho Grand Chief Herb Norwegian defended the band's tactics.

He said his people must have a big say in how the pipeline is regulated and 
share in the wealth it would create.

"We want to make sure the environment is taken care of properly and that we 
are the ones in the driver's seat," Norwegian said from Fort Simpson, N.W.T.

"We also have to make sure that there is full-scale economic development in 
the hands of the Deh Cho people."

Handley said if all goes well, an agreement in principle could be reached 
that would see the N.W.T, obtain jurisdiction from Ottawa over natural 
resources by 2006.

He said such a deal would give the Northwest Territories and aboriginal 
governments a set percentage of resource revenues. The money would be used 
to better fund education, social services and its infrastructure needs.

"It would probably mean somewhere in the neighbourhood of $80-million to 
$100-million dollars per year, which is about 10 per cent of our budget," he 
said.

"We want to have a formula that treats us no differently than the (federal) 
government treats Alberta, Manitoba or any other jurisdiction in Canada."

-- 

Macdonald Stainsby
http://independentmedia.ca/survivingcanada
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/rad-green
In the contradiction lies the hope
	--Bertholt Brecht.