No federal support forthcoming
Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Mar 16/01) - The federal government is letting the market decide the course of pipeline development in the North.
A senior federal advisor said this week Ottawa recognizes the country in general and the North in particular would benefit from the development of a Canadian gas pipeline.
"The over the top route is the one that would benefit Canada most ... in terms of economic benefits," said Judy Tanguay.
But the executive advisor with the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development's Hull, Que. headquarters also said the government has no influence over whether a Mackenzie Valley pipeline is built or not.
"I believe in world peace too, but I don't have any control over that," said Tanguay.
The Northwest Territories' government has been lobbying Ottawa to state publicly its support for a Mackenzie Valley pipeline. Such a route would foster Canadian gas exploration and be a boon to the territorial economy and federal coffers, the GNWT reasons.
The Yukon government is promoting development of a pipeline to carry Alaskan gas to southern consumers. The pipeline would pass through the southern Yukon and, some say, if built first will threaten the feasibility of a Mackenzie Valley line.
Tanguay said oil companies are not interested in government subsidies -- what they want is regulatory certainty. The federal government is doing its part by helping establish a regulatory process that is predictable and manageable, she said.
Hart Searle, spokesperson for the oil companies considering building a Mackenzie Valley line, said public federal support is not critical.
"If they chose to do that, we would welcome it, but we haven't asked them to do that," said Searle.
Searle said both the territorial and federal governments have been "very supportive" in their discussions with the producers' group.
Tanguay said times have changed since the 1970s, when the Liberal government of Pierre Trudeau pumped billions of dollars into exploration in the Beaufort-Delta under the National Energy Program.
"Government is out of the business of subsidizing pipelines and energy programs," Tanguay said.
Western Arctic MP Ethel Blondin-Andrew was unavailable for comment.