.
Search
Email this articleE-mail this story  Discuss this articleWrite letter to editor  Discuss this articleOrder a classified ad
Setting up shop in Deh Cho

Mackenzie pipeline office opens its doors in Simpson

Derek Neary
Northern News Services

Fort Simpson (Sep 20/02) - A regional office for the Mackenzie Delta Producers Group opened it doors on Monday.

The office will employ three full-time staff and will be supported by part-time community representatives in Wrigley, Jean Marie River, Trout Lake and Kakisa.

The purpose of the operation is to improve communications with people in the Deh Cho, according to Joanne Young, manager of community consultations for the Mackenzie Gas Project.

She said the office staff will also assist local consultants and contractors interested in business opportunities associated with the Mackenzie Gas Project -- a Mackenzie Valley pipeline being proposed by Imperial Oil, Shell, ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil.

The Aboriginal Pipeline Group, which enjoys the support of many NWT aboriginal leaders, is seeking up to one-third ownership of that pipeline.

Applications for the part-time community representatives in the Deh Cho have already been accepted and job interviews will be conducted soon, Young noted.

Those positions are predicted to exist for one to three years, she said.

The full-time office staff -- which comprises regional liaison Bob Norwegian, benefits advisor Kevin Heron and office administrator Doris Blake -- are permanent employees who would be offered positions elsewhere if and when the Fort Simpson regional office closes in the future, she added.

A Mackenzie Gas Project office was opened in Norman Wells on Tuesday and another is slated to begin operations in Inuvik later this month.

The Northern Route Gas Pipeline Corporation, supported by ArctiGas Resources Corp., and pitching a rival "over the top," 100 per cent aboriginal ownership pipeline deal, has also set up shop in Norman Wells and Inuvik, but not Fort Simpson.

Young said she doesn't think of the Mackenzie Gas Project's presence in the Deh Cho in terms of getting an advantage over their competitors, but as essential for communication with the public.

"People need to be informed so they can make choices and decisions," she said.

Richard Lafferty, a consultant for ArctiGas Resources Corp., told Deh Cho Drum that he feels the Mackenzie Delta Producers Group is "pretty presumptuous" in setting up an office in Fort Simpson. The Aboriginal Pipeline Group no longer has a Deh Cho representative, with the last two -- Dennis Nelner and Doug Cardinal -- being removed from the job by the Deh Cho First Nations. He added that too many documents between the Producers Group and the federal government have been kept confidential, so people should be asking questions.

"The sooner they (Mackenzie Producers Group) open an office, the better. Then people can see the real deal," Lafferty said.