Derek Neary
Northern News Services

Fort Simpson (Sep 25/02) - The Liidlii Kue First Nation may sign in support of a seismic program on the Liard and Mackenzie rivers.

In a letter to seismic company WesternGeco in July, the LKFN stated that it plans to sign a memorandum of understanding pending the outcome of an environmental assessment.

Chief Rita Cli said last week that seismic technology has vastly improved since the days when dynamite was used.

"There's seismic that's happened on other traditional lands and you wouldn't even know it happened. There's no devastation," Cli said, adding that band members would get jobs from the Mackenzie river seismic project.

Because seismic programs are often a precursor to exploratory drilling for oil and gas, Cli would not rule out the possibility of drilling on the rivers if the LKFN is involved in the regulatory process and "as long as it meets all the guidelines."

Approval of band members would be a key and other affected First Nations would have to be in favour, she added.

The LKFN's letter to WesternGeco rebuked Deh Cho First Nations assistant negotiator Herb Norwegian, who had unequivocally condemned the proposed seismic program in a recent Drum article.

Cli, who was on leave when the letter was written, said Norwegian should not have spoken against the project publicly before consulting the Liidlii Kue First Nation.

"It might be his opinion and not ours," Cli said. "I guess there's a fine line you tow."

Norwegian said he had every confidence in his posture. "That has been a long-held position right from the chiefs and the harvesters time and time again," said Norwegian. "The whole (Deh Cho) declaration was actually based on protecting the waters ... it's a pillar of what we believe in. I'm not going to flex on that, of course not."

The Deh Cho First Nations have been trying to establish a buffer zone on the Mackenzie and Liard rivers through self-government negotiations. Cli said she would like the buffer zone to allow for development if it is approved by First Nations.

Norwegian argued that a buffer zone would have to be all-inclusive or it would essentially be rendered meaningless.

"You can't really say, 'We'll just do a little bit here and there' ... when you do open-heart surgery you don't do a little bit of an operation. You open it right up, and that's the way development has always been done," he said. "Maybe people need to take a trip up to Norman Wells and see these man-made islands. That's what we're dealing with."

A decision on the proposed river seismic program is expected from federal regulators later this year.