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First out of the gate

Kaa Dule Corporation wants pipeline contracts

Derek Neary
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Nov 01/02) - Four Deh Cho organizations are part of a regional venture aiming to secure preliminary Mackenzie Valley pipeline contracts.

The Kaa Dule United Corporation was incorporated on Wednesday, Oct. 23. It got a one-week extension to make pre-qualifications submissions to ColtKBR, the engineering company working for Imperial Oil.

The Liidlii Kue First Nation in Fort Simpson, the Fort Simpson Metis Nation, the Sambaa K'e First Nation in Trout Lake and the Nahanni Butte Dene Band passed resolutions to become part of the endeavour.

Randy Sibbeston, president of the Fort Simpson Metis Nation, said once it was determined that the Deh Cho Economic Corporation was not prepared to respond to ColtKBR's request for qualifications, action had to be taken quickly.

"They (consultant Doug Bryshun and Nahanni Butte Economic Development Corporation acting manager Bill Beaton) said, 'This is going to pass us by. This work is going to come and go and we won't even have a chance to bid on it,' " Sibbeston explained. "It was very up-front and very straightforward ... We saw the need to come together and do something about it, so we did."

Through joint ventures, the Kaa Dule Corporation will be seeking management roles in addition to labour positions, Sibbeston noted. The preliminary pipeline contracts up for bid will revolve around geo-technical work (studying the terrain) and defining gravel resources. There will also be contracts for camps and catering, surveying, emergency medical services and general services.

"In an ideal situation, we'll be the general contractor for all of those things and our joint-venture partners will be the operations managers," said Sibbeston.

Michael Nadli, grand chief of the Deh Cho First Nations, said the Kaa Dule Corporation should fall under the Deh Cho Economic Corporation, which has been in the works for a year now.

"Everybody was very excited about the development corporation and here all of a sudden we're creating another arm," Nadli said.

"Everybody's got to agree to co-operate and work together. If we do that we can make greater gains.

"We need to bring it to the leadership to see and understand what has happened and what the plans are," he said.

Nadli said he feels a Mackenzie Valley pipeline represents a "minute source of revenue at this point."

He said Imperial Oil has between $4 million and $6 million targeted for winter operations in the Deh Cho.

"Everybody's jumping at this. That's fine, but there could be greater things down the road," he said.