Water board members 'no show' irks chamber
Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Mar 23/01) - The absence of key decision-makers from the first two days of a three-day water board workshop has upset the NWT Chamber of Mines.
Apart from an appearance Tuesday by chair Melody McLeod, no board members attended the first two days of a three-day workshop hosted by the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board.
The event was organized to engage companies like Diavik, BHP, Miramar Chevron and Paramount in a discussion of the regulatory rules.
The hope is that by participating, industry will become both more familiar more accepting of the new water licensing and land-use permitting processes.
Northwest Territories Chamber of Mines general manager Mike Vaydik said the absence of the decision-makers sent the wrong message to industry.
"I mean, it's kind of like wetting your pants when you're wearing a dark suit -- it gives you a nice warm feeling but nobody notices," quipped Vaydik.
Vaydik said it highlighted one of the changes discussed at the meeting, to hire full-time board members.
Board member Ian Gilchrist said he did not find it important to attend the workshop because the board will be getting a report back from technical staff at its next meeting.
"My sense is that this was a regulatory workshop that was requested by staff because they wanted to hear what's being said out there," Gilchrist said.
"All board members have full-time positions," said Gilchrist. "Nobody would have been able to fit three days into their calendar to participate."
Vaydik said industry also has to cope with heavy staff turnover on both the land and water board and the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board.
The environmental impact review board is currently without an executive director. Weagle is leaving his job at the end of April.
Weagle said six of the 15 staffers were replaced during the board's first year of operations, when it processed 100 permit applications.
"There has been staff turnover, but a lot of organizations have a lot of turnover, for a lot of different reasons," Weagle said.
Other industry representatives at the workshop said they do not share the frustration of companies such as Paramount Resources, which last December backed away from a drilling project citing the lack of clarity of the regulatory system.
"The regulations we've worked with have been very good," said Lynn Lehr of Chevron, which found two of the biggest onshore gas deposits in Canada in Fort Liard last year.
"The project went very smoothly, quite frankly ... we kind of did it together and worked along the way."
