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INUVIK - The GNWT has no plans to ask the Alberta government to stop new oil sands development, despite a unanimous recommendation in favour of doing so from 20 communities in the territory.

At its 43rd annual general meeting in Inuvik last weekend, members of the NWT Association of Communities decided the GNWT should negotiate an agreement with Alberta to ensure water flowing into the NWT via the Mackenzie Basin is not contaminated and, in the meantime, ask Alberta to halt oil sands expansion.

The NWT Association of Communities (NWTAC) called for a halt to new oil sands development when representatives met in Inuvik May 21 to 24. From left, Tuktoyaktuk Mayor Merven Gruben and NWTAC president Gordon Van Tighem; Clarence Wood councillor with the Town of Inuvik, vice president – cities/towns/villages; Paschalina Nadli, mayor of Fort Providence, director – charter communities/hamlets/settlements; and Marion Berls, councillor for the Town of Fort Smith, director - cities/towns/villages - Andrew Rankin/NNSL photo. Recommendations 1. Climate change - NWTAC requested that the Northern Territories Waste and Water Association complete a review of climate change impacts on water, waste, and wastewater facilities. 2. NWT Housing Corporation representation on Community Energy Planning committees - NWTAC calls on the GNWT to mandate Housing Corporation plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 3. NWT board amalgamations - NWTAC is against combining education, housing and health boards, but recommends regionalization of the boards where appropriate. 4. Training for community fire departments - the NWTAC calls on the GNWT to perform an external review of fire departments in all communities. 5. Plumbing inspections - NWTAC calls on the GNWT to implement a licensing, regulation and inspection service for all new plumbing installations to a minimum standard of the National Plumbing Code of Canada. 6. Bottled water - urges all communities to phase out bottled water sales at their own facilities where potable water is available and start awareness campaigns about the benefits and quality of municipal water. 7. Fuel sales data - requests the GNWT to supply fuel sales data to each community as soon as possible. 8. Fire Underwriter Survey for community fire protection - calls on the GNWT to complete a fire underwriter survey for each community before December 31, 2011. v9. Updated inventory of community infrastructure needs - petitions the department of Municipal and Community Affairs to annually update the Building Healthy Communities report based on community capital plans. 10. Amendment to the Motor Vehicles Act - calls on the GNWT to amend the Act to allow private property owners to enforce parking infractions on their property.

"There is widespread concern in the Northwest Territories that the governments of Alberta and Canada have not managed the Alberta oil sands in a sustainable way that protects the environment or downstream communities," the recommendation reads.

Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Michael Miltenberger says the GNWT is finishing up a new territorial water policy for next fall and will work with Alberta on a trans-boundary agreement without calling for a freeze on new oil sands approvals.

"Alberta's not the enemy here. We're neighbours," Miltenberger told a press conference Tuesday. "There is a tendency to focus on a visible development like (Fort) McMurray, but there's some very broad issues here that we have to work together to resolve. I think we all want, at the end of the day, the same thing."

Yellowknife councillor Kevin Kennedy, one of the members present at the conference, said he understands the GNWT is in a tough bargaining position with Alberta but believes the government should put the interests of Northerners first.

"There's still enough approvals to keep the industry alive for sometime into the future, and what we're asking for really is just to take a moment - this is a good time to pause - and just get some reassurance that this is a huge, huge thing and it's not going to cause irreparable damage in the future," Kennedy said. "From the community level, we have some very, very grave concerns and we don't think that the soft-sell approach is going to be enough to protect both the land and the water and the wildlife, as well as human health."

Of about 20 recommendations discussed, the association's resolution opposing single-rate electricity billing was the only one that provoked widespread disagreement among members. As a result, they voted to table it until a later date.

In a single-rate billing system, all communities would pay the same electricity rates regardless of whether they use diesel fuel or hydro-electricity, meaning the larger communities powered by hydro - such as Fort Smith, Hay River and Yellowknife - would face substantial cost hikes.

"The only big and contentious issue remains the electricity rate review, and the big challenge there is that there's 33 different communities that have probably 22 different opinions," said association president Gordon Van Tighem. "We're at the point now where somebody really has to look significantly at what the philosophy is behind what the legislative instructions are to the power corp., to the public utility board, and what the opportunities are for efficiencies in the power corp."

Other recommendations the communities put forward to the GNWT have been ongoing for several years, including a request for funding to complete the Mackenzie Valley Highway and build an all-weather road from Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk, as well as requests for more access to gravel and stronger communication between the GNWT and the communities. The association has brought each of those issues to the government repeatedly in at least the past three years.

Tuktoyaktuk Mayor Merven Gruben said after many years of political pushing, the extension is coming closer to reality.

"Right now we're lobbying for funding on our part from Inuvik to Tuk for the preliminary work on the road and the mapping and the surveying; all that kind of stuff has to be done, so it's a first step," Gruben said after the conference. "It's going as fast as we can make it go right now, considering we don't have any money."

Derek Lindsay, host mayor of Inuvik, said it's important for communities to keep bringing unresolved issues to the GNWT, even if the government doesn't act on them right away. "It's like teaching a child," Lindsay said, "you've got to keep repeating it until they get it right."