Thorunn Howatt
Northern News Services

Fort Liard (Sep 16/02) - There's unrest in the valley.

Tensions were high in Fort Liard last week when aboriginal leaders met to talk about oil and gas exploration and a Mackenzie Valley pipeline.

A frustrated Randy Sibbeston directed his question at Imperial Oil Resources' Randy Ottenbrite: "Why were Northerners not given the opportunity to bid on pipeline-related environmental contracts?" - Thorunn Howatt/NNSL photo

"We have been kept in the dark," said Liidlii Kue First Nation Chief Rita Cli.

She pointed a finger at both industry and aboriginal groups for not telling her band about opportunities and consequences related to impending energy activities.

But last week about 150 government officials, aboriginal chiefs and politicians joined business people to talk about energy exploration, a proposed Mackenzie Valley pipeline and the business implications and opportunities for aboriginal Northerners.

Some chiefs from the Deh Cho were conspicuously absent. Many of the region's leaders don't want a pipeline running through their territory until they have a settled land claim.

People from some regions also say there isn't a fair distribution of energy exploration-related work. They think the Inuvialuit are racking up all the good contracts before there's a chance for them to get on board.

Last week's event was slightly reminiscent of a meeting in Fort Liard a little over two years ago. That's when aboriginal leaders from all over the NWT emerged with an optimistic and united front. Their dream was to own a piece of a Mackenzie Valley pipeline and maximize their benefits through business partnerships.

But since then, with a pipeline looking more and more like a reality, friction escalated between regions.

"We thought it was the right time. We thought everyone in the communities was in favour," said Fort Liard's Harry Deneron. He was a key instigator of oil and gas development of the Deh Cho region and a major advocate for ownership of a Mackenzie Valley pipeline.

"But my opinion is not that anymore."

'It's going to happen'

But despite the dissension, economic spin-offs from energy exploration have to be optimized, insisted Deneron.

"This pipeline is going to happen. Someone is going to build it."

Imperial Oil is leading a group called the Mackenzie Delta Producers' Group, which wants to have natural gas flowing down a Mackenzie Valley pipeline by 2007. Work on the project is in high gear.

But pipeline research has barely started and already Fort Simpson's Randy Sibbeston is frustrated and disenchanted. He complained lucrative environmental contracts went to a Southern firm without even giving Northerners an opportunity to bid.

"It reminds me of the Dukes of Hazard's Boss Hawg," said Sibbeston, in reference to the 1970s TV show. He added he is disappointed with both federal and territorial governments for not pushing Imperial Oil resources and other energy companies to work more closely with Northern business.

"When those contracts went out there was a grand wall of silence," he said.

The two-day $170,000 meeting was facilitated by the NWT Community Mobilization Partnership.