Terry Halifax
Northern News Services

Fort Smith (Nov 22/99) - To provide a more responsive service to the people of the North, the Mackenzie River Basin Board has recently decided to move its office from Edmonton to Fort Smith.

Operating from an interim office in Edmonton since the board's inception, the decision to move North has always been the plan of the board, said Robert McLeod, board member and deputy minister for Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development.

"We had an interim agreement and we were operating out of the offices of Environment Canada, but we all knew that we should find a permanent location for the board," McLeod said.

"At the last meeting of the board, there was a unanimous decision to have the board and the secretariat located in Fort Smith."

"The primary reason was that board members wanted the board located within the basin," he added.

McLeod said the board also felt with the facilities available at Aurora College, Smith was the best location.

"Another reason was that 80 per cent of the waters in the basin flow through Fort Smith."

Tom Cottrell currently sits as board secretariat in Edmonton. He said the office was originally set up there out of convenience to government.

"The secretariat office was established here in Edmonton after the Mackenzie River Basin Board Transboundary Waters master agreement was signed in 1997," Cottrell said.

"They set up the office for the secretariat here because Environment Canada is the banker for the board and also sits on the board."

Cottrell said the board is currently looking for office space in Smith and will soon be hiring.

"We're in the process of preparing a job description and there will be a competition and somebody will be hired to fill the position in Fort Smith," he said.

"Fort Smith was quite interested in this and they have worked on it for quite a while," he said.

Fort Smith's Mayor Peter Martselos said moving the office is good news for his town.

"I'm very, very happy," Martselos said.

"It's something we've all worked so hard over the last three years to get done and it's finally fallen into place."

The initial benefits will not make a big economic impact, he said, but he's looking at future benefits.

"At first it's not going to be a very big thing -- maybe three or four jobs, but we're looking to the long term," he said.

"(In) the long term it may mean lots more jobs."

The mayor said the help and support of MP Ethel Blondin Andrew, Aurora College, and local board member Sonny MacDonald really helped the board's decision.

"It took a lot of teamwork and by working together we can get a lot of good things done," he said.

Fact File

The Mackenzie River Basin Board:

- Established in July 1997 with the signing of the Mackenzie River basin Transboundary Waters Agreement.

- A joint initiative between Canada, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Yukon and the Northwest Territories.

- A co-operative agreement by all six governments to monitor and manage water resources.

- Key responsibilities include:

-providing a forum for communication and consultation between all six jurisdictions and the public

-making recommendations on uniform objectives or guidelines for the quality and quantity of water resources

-encouraging and conducting water monitoring programs

-compiling a report on the state of water resources to submit to government by 2004

- Board is comprised of 13 members; three from federal government and 10 from each province and territory.

- One board member from each province or territory represents aboriginal organizations.

- Annual operating budget of $280,000 -- funded by all six governments.