Dave Sullivan
Northern News Services

Kakisa (July 06/01) - Conflicts between old and new values stand in the way of deciding if a gas pipeline should go through traditional Deh Cho territory.

"We've got to go ahead, we have to." - Hay River Chief Pat Martel.

At the ninth annual assembly of Deh Cho First Nations last week, elders reminded delegates how the land is sacred and belongs to nobody, while some young delegates pleaded for aboriginal communities to catch up to the times and cash in on pipeline benefits.

Those around the table said they felt tremendous pressure to make a decision soon, one they hope their grandchildren would not regret.

"It's not going to look good for us in the future if we say we can't do it," Hay River Chief Pat Martel said. "We've got to go ahead, we have to."

Other conflicts were aired, such as complaints from tiny communities that they are being bypassed when it comes to economic benefits while residents continue struggling without jobs or decent houses.

Chief Leon Konisenta of Nahanni Butte said the small communities cannot afford to hire experts who can negotiate economic benefits with resource companies.

"We want oil company contracts. We can't go back into the bush," Konisenta said.

Trout Lake Chief Dennis Deneron said three or four oil companies approach him every month, but "we don't even know how to talk to them."

While he and other chiefs expressed frustration at standing by helpless while prosperity passes by, others urged the Deh Cho leaders to think more like the Inuvialuit who have started large corporations and use $100,000 from a surplus to start regionally-owned companies.

There are also concerns by those favouring development that an agreement with oil companies they are being asked to sign is flawed.

Deh Cho's chief negotiator Chris Reid said a pipeline agreement signed by other affected regions conflicts with the Deh Cho Process, a drive for self-government that will take another decade to complete.

The agreement "will take control away" because it calls for a environmental assessment controlled by the federal government rather than local authorities, Reid said.

"Nobody represents aboriginal interests ... the purpose of the Deh Cho Process is to ensure that you have control over a project like this."

Aboriginal Pipeline Group representatives Doug Cardinal and Dennis Nelner, who have been withdrawn from the APG by the Deh Cho First Nations, disagreed with Reid, saying the agreement is flexible. Doug Cardinal urged leaders not to toss out negotiations that took a year and a half.

Reid warned that once a pipeline is approved, there will be no leverage left to use for negotiating royalties.