Doug Ashbury
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Oct 11/00) - Industry's biggest Mackenzie Valley pipeline hurdle is no longer in the way. That hurdle -- aboriginal support -- has been overcome, said Premier Stephen Kakfwi

Stephen Kakfwi

Kakfwi led an NWT delegation, and addressed members of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee at a reception in Washington last week, hosted by Canadian Ambassador Michael Kergin.

Discussion on how to get Mackenzie Delta natural gas to market has heated up over the past several months.

The Yukon and Alaska are flying the Alaska Highway pipeline banner as the answer. And driving the desire to flow more gas south is a projected huge increase in demand in the U.S. in coming years.

In his speech, Kakfwi said he carries an NWT perspective and an aboriginal one.

In the 1970s, Kakfwi fought against a Mackenzie Valley pipeline proposal. He is prepared today to fight with as much conviction to ensure the project goes ahead -- provided it brings benefits to NWT residents.

"Today, it is aboriginal people who are pushing for a pipeline," he said in his speech.

Kakfwi adds it will bring several hundred million dollars in land claim settlement money for economic development investment.

The inherent right of aboriginal people to self-government has been recognized and, as a result, aboriginal communities are now active participants in economic development, he added.

Kakfwi points to the partnership between industry and the Inuvialuit Petroleum Corp., which resulted in the Ikhil project that supplies natural gas to Inuvik, as an example.

As for how the valley route stacks up against other alternatives, Kakfwi said the route is shortest and cheapest to build. The current price tag for a Mackenzie Valley pipeline is $2.3 billion.

For its part, the territorial government has developed a non-renewable resource development strategy and set up an intergovernmental forum which includes the GNWT, the federal government, and aboriginal governments, says Kakfwi.

He says the GNWT can play a role in the environmental assessment and regulatory processes in the NWT.

The GNWT is examining joint co-ordination of Inuvialuit Final Agreement, Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act and the National Energy Board's regulatory processes.