Yellowknife (Apr 26/04) - Members of the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board (MVEIRB) have been traveling the Northwest Territories recently.

They met interested community members in Norman Wells on March 17.

Members of the panel also met with community members in Inuvik on March 30 and 31, and in Fort Simpson between April 16 and 18.

The following comments from Villebrun, Tout and Tourangeau were taken from MVEIRB transcripts of the March 17 hearings, held at the Community Hall in Norman Wells. Norwegian's comments were made earlier in Fort Simpson.

Noeline Villebrun: Dene National Chief

"I've seen Dene contractors living out in tent frames, at 50-60 below, while the southern contractors were living in camps with satellite dishes.

"So those were the types of issues that myself and a few other Dene workers had to take on.

"Our people are so below the bottom of the ladder, as they would say, for jobs, and there's not many Dene people in management positions.

"Yet the (territorial) government and the federal government has spent millions and billions of dollars across Canada to educate the Dene and First Nations across Canada, but yet we have few people in management positions."

Ann Marie Tout: Norman Wells Mayor

"It's our expectation that we'll see increased alcohol, substance abuse, increased crime, probably increased rates of family violence, and sexually transmitted diseases from transient workers interacting with community members.

"Our current drilling activity has already resulted in increased demands on our local emergency services. Our health centre is being asked to meet the demands of exploratory drilling camps located outside of Norman Wells, and we expect that, as the demand from increased industry increases, the availability of our medical services will decline.

"We're seeing an increased cost of living already."

Larry Tourangeau: Former president of the NWT Metis Association

"Their idea of consultation sometimes has to be questioned. It doesn't mean exactly what it is. A lot of times you get people coming in here and sitting down and talking or talking on the phone and they call that consultation.

"(About three years ago) I got a call and the guy says, 'you got any questions' and I said, 'well, no.' I said, 'Why don't you come down here and we'll talk about it.' And he says, 'no, I'm on my way out.' He said, 'I just thought I'd give you a call, because we need to consult on any problems we may have where we're going to be doing some work this winter.' So, that was his idea of consultation, talking to a few people."

Keyna Norwegian: Chief of the Liidlii Kue First Nation

Aboriginal people are not opposed to development, but they want to be in control of it.

She told board members that they may not have noticed anything but unoccupied land as they flew to Fort Simpson. However, many band members continue to go into the bush and there are many special places with sentimental value, she said.

"There's no way we can put a fence around that area and say, 'This is my spot,' because we don't live like that.

"All we are saying is, 'You're coming into our traditional area, let us do the work. We're capable of doing it.'"