Jason Unrau
Northern News Services

Inuvik (Apr 30/04) - At Monday's committee of the whole meeting, Mayor Peter Clarkson expressed his concern to Boot Lake MLA and Deputy Premier Floyd Roland about the impact of pipeline work on local infrastructure.

"Already there is increased traffic and it's only going to increase," said Clarkson.

"Is the GNWT pulling together potential impacts they would see with the pipeline and doing something about mitigating these things?"

Roland says there has been some work done on what he referred to as "costing."

This, he explains, is any kind of financial costs -- social or economic -- brought by the pipeline that would have to be absorbed by the GNWT.

In order to examine the impacts more closely, a GNWT Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Committee, chaired by RWED Minister Brendan Bell, has been formed. "The argument that we've made in Ottawa, is that we don't have the royalty revenues we need to deal with a burden that we are not normally used to," he said.

The GNWT is working to get a better formula financing deal and negotiate devolution of powers and royalty revenue sharing with the federal government.

Roland says that for every dollar the territory generates in new revenue, approximately 80 cents is clawed back by Ottawa.

"But how soon any devolution deal can be struck with the federal government is the key," he said. "Right now it's their ball game and with devolution we would set the ground rules."

Agreement in principal

Roland says he is hopeful an agreement in principal regarding devolution would be signed between the GNWT, DIAND and Aboriginal groups by April 2005.

Bringing it back to a municipal level, the mayor says council is looking at putting forward a proposal for funding from Municipal and Community Affairs to deal with road maintenance and further infrastructure needs in anticipation of increased traffic.