Yellowknife (Feb 15/06) - Kam Lake MLA Dave Ramsay says it's unfair that aboriginal communities can collect social funding for impacts from the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline, while Yellowknife goes without.

Ramsay, speaking in the legislative assembly on Monday, referred to the $500 million socio-economic fund promised by Ottawa last summer to mitigate negative social impacts from the proposed Mackenzie Valley Pipeline.

The money will flow into a trust fund over the next decade for 22 communities along the pipeline route.

The Kam Lake MLA said that Yellowknife isn't getting a fair shake, however, because a large number of negative impacts - including higher crime rates and drug and alcohol abuse - will happen here.

"My big concern is that 70 per cent of the people and three of the four main population centres - Hay River, Yellowknife and Fort Smith - are left out of the picture," said Ramsay.

"The money, the jobs, the hot economy - those are all good things.

"But there's also a dark side to resource development and prosperity, and that is a growing list of social ills like drugs, crime and things like that."

The government should've exerted more pressure on Ottawa to get the three tax-based centres on the list, said Ramsay.

Premier Joe Handley insisted the money is strictly for communities along the pipeline route.

The socio-economic fund was devised after aboriginal groups demanded millions of dollars from Imperial Oil for community infrastructure in exchange for permission to build the pipeline through their land.

Handley added that Yellowknife has benefited from other funding arrangements with Ottawa, including the Northern Strategy Fund handed down last year.

"Yellowknife got $7 million that they can use for socio-economic impacts if they choose to," said Handley.

Mayor Gord Van Tighem said the city never lobbied Ottawa to be a part of the socio-economic fund, but they wouldn't mind a share.

"Just because somebody is adjacent doesn't mean they're the only ones who will have an impact," said Van Tighem.

"When the pipelines were being built in Fort Liard there was an impact here. We had people coming from here to work there. We had to arrange bussing and transfer services and all sorts of things."