Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Apr 03/00) - The main message chiefs and band leaders conveyed at the end of a two-day workshop on aboriginal involvement in oil, gas and mining development is they want control over that development.

Akaitcho Treaty 8 Grand Chief Felix Lockhart said protecting the environment, and aboriginal people's traditional way of life, should be the first priority when considering new mining, oil and gas developments - Richard Gleeson/NNSL photo

The biggest hurdle chiefs said needed to be cleared was the unhindered access prospectors have to aboriginal lands.

"What has happened is prospecting companies can come onto our lands and stake a claim without any consultation at all," said Deh Cho Grand Chief Michael Nadli. "The free-entry system that is presently in place under the Canada mining regulations infringes on aboriginal title."

Nadli made the comment last Thursday, at the conclusion of a workshop hosted by the National Round Table on Environment and the Economy.

The focus of the two-day workshop was the relationship between aboriginal communities and non-renewable resource development.

Akaitcho Treaty 8 Grand Chief Felix Lockhart spoke of the short-sighted approach people can be tempted to take when they see the "carrots mining companies dangle before our eyes."

Lockhart said the first consideration should always be the long-term effect projects will have on the land.

"It's what we're all about," said Lockhart. "That's our whole life, the land and the water."

Aklavik Chief Charlie Furlong cautioned the battle for control over resource development does not end with the signing of a land claim agreement.

"I found out negotiating a land claim was easy," Furlong said. "The real fight started when we wanted to implement the principles of that agreement. Implementation of the agreement has become a battleground for lawyers."

Despite the difficulties, Furlong said the role of aboriginal people in oil, gas and mining development has changed dramatically since the last time a pipeline was proposed for the Mackenzie Valley.

"This time, compared to 1975, we are in the driver's seat," he said. "I'm going to make sure, as long as I'm a leader, I call the shots."

Rachael Crappeau, who represented the Yellowknives Dene on the committee that advised the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development during the review of the proposed Diavik diamond mine, said at times it seemed the federal government was more interested in meeting the company's deadlines than making sure the project was done right.

"Environmental assessments are very necessary, but mining companies have a way of persuading the federal government to fast track the process," said Crappeau. "They made it look like it was aboriginal people's fault they didn't get their way."

She recalled Diavik officials' reaction to Robert Nault's decision that an environmental agreement had to be negotiated before the project could begin.

"You could just see it in their faces that they were in a hurry -- 'Oh, we have to negotiate an environmental agreement?' They just hated that."