Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

NNSL (Jun 11/99) - The much-touted openness of the Diavik environmental review ends at the most critical time in the process.

Government confidentiality rules prohibit the final decision on the project from being made public, said an official with the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency.

"The fact that (Environment Minister Christine Stewart) makes a decision will be made public," said CEAA spokesperson Gordon Harris. "But at this time we are under orders from the government not to release the contents of that determination."

The same rule applies to recommendations on the project CEAA makes to the environment minister.

Government confidentiality rules prohibit ministers from making public correspondence between them or advice given to them.

Recommendations on the project made by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency to the minister of the environment would be regarded as advice and therefore be confidential.

The decision and any conditions attached to it would also be confidential, since it would come in the form of a letter from the minister of the environment to the ministers of the three departments overseeing the review.

Harris said the agency, an independent body responsible for advising the minister on environmental reviews, is looking for a solution to the confidentiality issue, but has not found one yet.

Unhappy Northerners

As the review of the project enters the home stretch, opposition to the project is growing in the North and making allies of organizations normally at odds with one another.

The territorial government last month called upon the federal government to compel Diavik to sell some of the diamonds it pulls from the ground to Northern-based diamond manufacturers.

The federal government has refused to do so, saying such a move could violate international trade agreements.

But the territorial government's lead official on diamonds, Resources Wildlife and Economic Development deputy minister Joe Handley, said officials from the federal Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade have assured him Diavik can be compelled to supply rough diamonds without violating the agreements.

"It can be done, but it has to be done right," Handley said in a recent interview. Departmental officials contacted by the Yellowknifer did not confirm Handley's assertion, saying the issue is complicated and being researched.

The Canadian Arctic Research Committee has argued the review failed to thoroughly consider other less environmentally harmful methods of mining the diamonds. It has asked a lawyer to look into the matter.

"We're still looking at it," said CARC research director Kevin O'Reilly. "The trigger for all of this is if the government decides to proceed with the project."

O'Reilly said if the project is approved, any court challenge would have to be filed within 30 days of the decision.

Though they participated in the review, this week Treaty 8 chiefs and the Dene Nation said the Diavik mine and any other new projects proposed on lands they are claiming will not go ahead until the federal government addresses outstanding land claim issues.

Dogrib Treaty 11 has conducted an independent review of the project, refusing to participate in the review being conducted by the federal government.