Yellowknife (Feb 14/03) - The Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development will spend $10 million to fund a pipeline readiness office in Yellowknife.

"We want to send a message to industry that we are now ready to do business," said DIAND minister Robert Nault in Calgary Thursday.

The $10 million will be used to staff the new office for three years.

Nault stressed that in choosing Yellowknife rather than Whitehorse for the new office, the government is not sending a message that it prefers a Mackenzie Valley route.

"I want to underline that the Canadian government remains route neutral. Market forces must decide where and when a pipeline will be built."

Nault said he will send that message to Washington, along with a promise that there will be no government subsidy for construction of the pipeline.

"If anything other than the market starts to warp the decision on where and when, we will pay the price by potentially stopping the best companies from succeeding."

Government involvement in any role other than as a regulator would inevitably mean higher taxes on both sides of the border, he said.

The pipeline readiness office in Yellowknife will be involved in the review and issuing of permits, industry-community liaison related to benefit plans, and public and community consultation, said the minister.