Fort Good Hope (July 05/04) - A battle of the titans is shaping up over the development of the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline.

Former premier Stephen Kakfwi is knee-deep into the pipeline debate once again as he champions a revenue-sharing agreement developed by the K'asho Got'ine Dene.

Fred Carmichael, chairman of the Aboriginal Pipeline Group, says Kakfwi is playing with the future of the North's children and grandchildren, and that if he pushes too hard "you can kiss the pipeline goodbye."

Kakfwi, who was hired as an advisor to the K'asho Got'ine, is encouraging them to move forward on a revenue-sharing proposal that would see close to $40 million a year distributed back to the impacted communities along the Mackenzie Valley.

The K'asho Got'ine and the Deh Cho First Nations represent 65 per cent of the right of way for the pipeline -- a sizeable and influential segment of the impacted communities, said Kakfwi.

"The Aboriginal Pipeline Group proposal isn't the deal that's going to put this pipeline over the top," he said.

In his discussions with the Mackenzie Valley Producers Group, Kakfwi has been told it's an either or proposition; either the K'asho Got'ine revenue-sharing proposal or the Aboriginal Pipeline Group.

"We're the land owners, why do we want to go into debt?" asked Kakfwi, saying a debt will be incurred through the Aboriginal Pipeline Group.

Carmichael says the APG will not be going into debt.

"For a $100 investment we are going to receive billions of dollars in return," he said.

Kakfwi also said the APG proposal pushes too much revenue to the Gwich'in and the Inuvialuit.

Carmichael said APG revenue will be pegged on the percentage of land the pipeline crosses.

"There's more land in the Sahtu and the Deh Cho, and they'll receive more revenue," said Carmichael. "The thing you have to remember is without the APG to start with, and without a pipeline, you have nothing to negotiate because you don't have a pipeline. You kill the pipeline and what have you got? You've got nothing," said Carmichael.

If it comes down to an "either or" push, the K'asho Got'ine are prepared to abandon the APG proposal and go the way of revenue sharing, said Kakfwi.

The way the revenue-sharing proposal works, said Kakfwi, is similar to how municipalities deal with pipelines.

"In Saskatchewan, if a pipeline crosses a municipality, the pipeline company pays a share of revenue to that municipality," he said.

"It's almost like a property tax," said Kakfwi.

Kakfwi calls the proposal "credible and do-able."

"APG people are running around telling everybody this is going to kill the pipeline, but Imperial Oil is telling us 'get your communities in line,'" said Kakfwi.

Two separate issues

Carmichael responds that ownership of the pipeline and the negotiations over access and benefit agreements are two separate issues.

"We in the APG do not get involved in any of the access and benefits agreements," he said.

While Kakfwi went to the K'asho Got'ine saying he wouldn't back a deal that threatened the APG, Carmichael states access and benefits arrangements do not run contrary to the development of the pipeline and the APG.

Carmichael said the culture in the North has changed and the leaders of the North have to recognize that change. "Back when I was a kid we spent most of our time out on the land and we would go into the communities for holidays like Canada Day. Today, it's totally reversed. Now people live in the communities and go out on the land for two to three weeks a year and go out on the weekends," said Carmichael.