Mill owner says he was "shaken down" for timber permit
Terry Halifax
Northern News Services
Hay River (Apr 02/01) - Since the early drafting of the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act, critics have said the law leaves developers vulnerable to self-serving interests.
Hay River sawmill owner Eugene Patterson said the Act was used by the community of Fort Resolution to coerce payment from him.
"It's extortion, that's what it is," Patterson said. "They wanted 150 per cent of the profit."
Patterson said the community "tried to shake us down," for cash and get control of the best of the three blocks of timber he held permits on.
"In addition to giving them $25,000 as a donation to the community, it would have cost me $75,000 to build a new road for them and on top of that, I would forfeit the timber," he said.
"The timber they decided I should have was some they didn't even want."
When Patterson said he couldn't afford it, the Deninoo Community Council referred the project to the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board.
The council said community members were "concerned that the animals they harvested might not come back to the cutting area for many years."
Fort Resolution's mayor, Richard Simon could not be reached, but Steve Cuthbert, general manager of the Deninu K'ue Development Corporation, earlier told News/North that trappers recommended the assessment.
"They didn't like the fact that somebody from outside the area was cutting down the trees here and taking them outside the community to be milled," he said.
The law states that a referral from any municipality, First Nation, government department or agency affected by the development can trigger an environmental assessment.
Acting Executive Director for the MVEIRB, Roland Semjanovs said the issue was raised throughout the writing of the law.
"This is one of the short-comings that everyone has recognized and has been pointed out to the architects of the legislation," Semjanovs said. "The review board doesn't have any discretion on whether to accept or reject a referral."
"The legislation specifically says that once a body refers the development to us for environmental assessment, we shall do it."
The MVEIRB's environmental assessment officer, Louie Azzolini, said the referral is first checked for validity, but beyond that, the MVEIRB is bound by law to conduct the review.
"There is a short period of time between receiving the referral and getting an opinion from legal council to see if it is a lawful referral," Azzolini said.
Semjanovs says the federal government has the power to amend the legislation, but it's a very time-consuming process.
Patterson got a letter last week from DIAND minister Robert Nault, who wrote that he advised the regional board to "work expeditiously" to determine an outcome .
Patterson said Ottawa has taken a year to do what the territorial government accomplished in two weeks.
"I'd like to see the government try to go without revenue for a year -- it's ridiculous ... absolutely ridiculous," he said.
