Round table hears northern concerns
Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Nov 13/00) - It was an crash course on Northern discontent.
Members of the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy heard first hand to concerns about the impact of non-renewable resource development in the North.
 Ted Blondin says the socio-economic agreements signed by the territorial government and mining companies promised far more than they have delivered. |
During discussion of the social and environmental challenges posed by development, Dogrib land claims manager Ted Blondin said the socio-economic agreements signed by the territorial government and mining companies promised far more than they have delivered.
Canadian Arctic Resources Committee research director Kevin O'Reilly related a litany of federal shortcomings on the environment, including underfunding the development of a cumulative effects framework and contaminated sites clean-ups and a failing environmental assessment process.
The non-partisan RTEE advises the federal government, but can not compel Ottawa to act on its advice.
"We made six or seven suggestions to the federal government for last year's budget and five found their way into the budget," said round table chair Stuart Smith. "In other years our recommendations have gone unheeded."
Smith said he believes Ottawa is ready to make a political commitment to Northern sustainability and will not be too reluctant to provide more funding, given the royalties that resource development will generate.
The big issue will not be money, but what to spend it on and who gets to spend it.
"Tension between aboriginal governments and the public government is probable," Smith said.
"I heard quite a convincing claim that quite a bit has to be spent on environmental research. No doubt capacity building is a big issue."
The day after listening to the presentations, RTEE members debated the contents of the draft.
The report will be made public and presented to the federal government by February, Smith said.
