[IPSM] More resistance to the MGP pipeline

[Macdonald Stainsby]

Apr 12 2006 08:55 AM CDT

CBC News


Community leaders in Fort Good Hope have told the panel reviewing the
MacKenzie Gas Project they're unlikely to sign an access and benefits
agreement with Imperial Oil in its present form.



A month ago, residents of Fort Good Hope rejected an agreement by a narrow
margin.



Arthur Tobac, the president of the Yamoga Lands Corporation, told the panel
reviewing the social and environmental impacts of the pipeline that his
members can't agree on the terms under which the company will have access to
the proposed pipeline route, or the benefits Fort Good Hope will get in
return.



He says levying a property tax on the pipeline, which had been off the
table, is back on again. Tobac is looking for the panel's support.



"The aboriginal governments in the N.W.T. will win the right to collect
property taxes on their lands in the same way as other First Nations do in
the rest of Canada. This issue will not go away," he says.



Tobac's list includes a recommendation that Imperial Oil should have to make
a decision to build the pipeline within three years of getting approval.
Imperial had been asking for a 10-year period.



He also wants Fort Good Hope to have its own monitoring agency with the
power to shut down the pipeline after its built. He says he doesn't trust
Indian Affairs, which inspects development now, to do the job properly.



"They can't have it both ways," he told the joint review panel. "You can't
be a major cheerleader for a proponent of the pipeline and be a referee when
disputes arise concerning damage to land, water and culture."



Other recommendations address the need for training, employment and business
opportunities in the community of about 750 people, 800 kilometres northwest
of Yellowknife.



The chairman of the panel said he needs time to digest Tobac's ideas and
promised to respond later.



The panel is holding hearings along the length of the pipeline route until
next November.


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