Nathan VanderKlippe
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Oct 04/02) - Ratification of the Kyoto Protocol could put a chill on investment in the North's oil and gas projects, says the president of the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce.

"We're at a crucial point in the development of those resources," said Dave McPherson. "Kyoto could seriously and detrimentally affect those investment decisions. I think the territorial government has not thought this through."

Down the road, less investment could mean less jobs, he said.

"Nobody is saying that we shouldn't operate in an environmentally responsible matter. The point is, the impacts of this agreement on our economy are not clear and nobody's really looked at it," he said.

The GNWT has not conducted a study of the economic impacts of the accord, and has no plans to do so. Neither the federal nor territorial governments have communicated any idea of how Kyoto will be implemented.

McPherson's comments follow a speech by made by Premier Stephen Kakfwi Sept. 23 to the International Environmental Lawyer's Network in Vancouver.

Kakfwi has staunchly supported the accord, which was signed by 160 nations and calls for a reduction of greenhouse gases to 5.2 per cent, below 1990 levels, by the year 2012. Prime Minister Jean Chretien has announced that his government will push hard to ratify the accord in the near future.

But Kakfwi presides over a territory which finds itself caught between competing forces on Kyoto.

Climate change is affecting patterns of life North of 60, especially for those engaged in traditional lifestyles. In his speech, Kakfwi spoke of changing migratory patterns and species whose habitat is extending farther north.

"This summer, when people went to their traditional summer fishing camps they couldn't dry their whitefish in the sun the way they always have. It was raining too much and the fish kept going mouldy," he said.

He also mentioned the economic cost of not passing Kyoto: shrinking time windows for ice roads and melting permafrost with its resulting damage to structures and roadways.

Yet talk of Kyoto comes at a time when the territory is positioning itself to massively expand production of oil and gas -- and pushing for a pipeline to funnel all those fossil fuels to Southern markets.

Kakfwi himself mentioned the issue in the speech, saying development of fossil fuels in the territory could double greenhouse gas emissions here. However, he said, natural gas is a "bridging" substance. It is cleaner-burning than coal or diesel and could be used to help wean reliance on those substances, he said.

Companies like Imperial Oil, a major player in the pipeline initiative, have opposed Kyoto at every step.

Spokesman Pius Roltheiser said that Imperial has continued its pipeline efforts despite federal pledges to ratify Kyoto.

But although he said it was too early to comment on specifics of Kyoto, he did add, "we're certainly concerned about the potential negative impact that Kyoto could have on Canada's economy and standard of living."

But Alex Borowiecka, a board member with Ecology North, said Kakfwi's stand on Kyoto has "been very helpful in terms of just pushing the process on and keeping people apprised of the benefits."

Even so, Finance Minister Joe Handley cast doubt on the GNWT's financial commitment to Kyoto when he said the government is not prepared to put much money into building hydro dams to reduce reliance on diesel generation.

"Hydro is a very attractive investment right now and it will become increasingly attractive. So it's the private sector who would be willing to put the money into it given the right economic and political environment."