Concerns about stepping on NEB turf
Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Apr 16/01) - Repeated so many times it plays like a re-run of Laverne and Shirley up here by now, the NWT position on pipelines was delivered again to the federal government.
Premier Stephen Kakfwi and Economic Development Minister Joe Handley met for an hour with Natural Resources Canada Minister Ralph Goodale. All three were in Edmonton to attend the Meet the North conference.
"I think Mr. Goodale understood what we said and understands the importance of the Canadian government's role in ensuring Canadian gas gets to market," said Handley Thursday.
"I think he's thinking how he can best approach this ... he's got concerns about getting in the way of the National Energy Board."
The territorial government has been lobbying for a federal show of support for a Mackenzie Valley pipeline, something they got two weeks ago from Prime Minister Jean Chretien.
Goodale is a member of a newly-formed federal ministers committee on energy. The committee is attempting to develop a national energy policy, something the territorial government has been seeking for two years.
"Because its a committee of federal ministers, we won't get Northern membership on it but we will get an opportunity to give input," Handley said.
Work developing a clear regulatory process for a pipeline application is continuing, though the process has yet to open itself to the public.
Bards and agencies that will be involved in assessment of the environmental impacts of any pipeline project met Feb. 28-March 1 in Inuvik and May 23-24 in Yellowknife.
