Inuvik (Feb 13/04) - With a mandate to facilitate the environmental impact assessment and regulatory reviews for the pipeline, Northern Gas Project Secretariat officials were in Inuvik last week to scout for locations for its Inuvik office.

Northern Gas Project Secretariat Executive Director Brian Chambers was in town last week looking for office space in Inuvik. Chambers says the secretariat plans to open an office here by the end of March. - Jason Unrau/NNSL photo

Planned to open by the end of March, the Inuvik location will "establish a presence in the community," said to secretariat Executive Director Brian Chambers.

"Our focus is on process," he said. "We need to be accessible to the public, transparent and at arm's length from pipeline proponents."

Hailed as a cornerstone of the 2002 Cooperation Plan -- which outlined the processes the environmental impact assessment and regulatory review of the planned Mackenzie Valley Pipeline -- the secretariat's role is to provide administrative, logistical, communication and information support to the agencies involved in the assessment.

Chambers, who has lived and worked in the North for 25 years, says the secretariat will also ensure there is "meaningful" public participation in the proposed project.

For example, if a member or members of a community want to voice concerns during the environmental impact phase the project is currently in, then the secretariat can help point those people in the right direction.

Along with the Yellowknife office, opened in December 2003, Chambers is confident the Inuvik location will offer the secretariat more opportunity for community-based information sessions once the office opens.