With the Deh Cho fighting the proposed Mackenzie Valley natural gas pipeline in court, NWT News/North examines the lessons learned from construction of the oil pipeline from Norman Wells to Alberta in the early 1980s.

Jack Danylchuk
Northern News Services

Norman Wells (Sep 20/04) - In 1985, a 12-inch, 866-km pipe was built to carry 25,000 barrels of oil each day from Norman Wells to Zama, Alberta.

The total project cost $820 million and included the creation of six islands in the Mackenzie River and up to 200 new wells.

Most of today's leaders agree that the Mackenzie Valley will go ahead -- it's just a question of when. - NNSL file photo

About $50 million was marked for Northern workers and businesses. Annual benefits were set at $7 million from ongoing operations. The territorial government would gain about $6 million a year in tax and lease revenue.

Georges Erasmus, Herbert Norwegian and Nick Sibbeston, who gained prominence during the Berger inquiry, argued that the Norman Wells pipeline should be delayed until land claims were settled.

A Dene-Metis court challenge failed, but they did get a two-year delay. First Nations were offered a 20 per cent stake in the pipeline, but there was no consensus.

Richard Nerysoo, government leader of the day, told Indian Affairs Minister David Crombie of lingering resentment in the communities when they opened the pipeline in May 1985 at Norman Wells.

"We want benefits beyond jobs; we want a share of resource revenues," Nerysoo said at the time.

The small diameter oil line was seen as the precursor to the mega-project that has taken almost 20 years to develop. The experience of the Norman Wells pipeline informs the approach of governments, industry and First Nations to planning, promoting and reviewing the Mackenzie Gas Project.

Premier turned negotiator

Stephen Kakfwi, former premier and now a negotiator for the K'Asho Got'ine Community Council, remembers watching the debate from Fort Good Hope, his home community.

"We were torn. There was a disconnect between the communities and the leadership," he said. "Economic development was not up for discussion. The Dene leadership was focused on land claims settlement. Everything would flow from that."

Trapping was still a way of life for many in the Mackenzie Valley, Kakfwi recalled.

"That was the turning point. We left the talks to the national leadership and turned to the communities. People had more pressing concerns: tending to traplines and feeding their families," he said. "Today most of our people are in the wage economy."

The Normal Wells pipeline drew some communities into the business world, but Kakfwi remembers that Harry Deneron was almost alone among the leaders in talking about jobs.

The chief of the Acho Dene Koe at Fort Liard "was one of the few leaders who understood what was at stake and used the situation to the advantage of his community."

Deneron invited exploration companies in 1993 and formed partnerships. Band revenues jumped from $5 million a year to $35 million.

Jobs and wages add $7 million a year to the Fort Liard economy. Aboriginal Achievement Awards recognized his achievements.

Kevin Menicoche, MLA for Nahendeh, remembers, "we spent a lot of effort trying to stop the pipeline, but not much preparing aboriginal businesses to benefit," from the Norman Wells pipeline.

"The communities want to bring new money into economies that are dominated by government," he said.

Menicoche is advising his constituents that if it clears regulatory hurdles, the natural gas line will be built quickly, in two seasons, starting in 2009.

Senator Nick Sibbeston, former MLA and premier, remembers the Norman Wells pipeline construction went by fast. "There were only a few little jobs," he said.

"In some respects, little has changed since the Norman Wells pipeline was built."

Sibbeston thinks the Mackenzie Valley natural gas pipeline is inevitable -- it's in the national interest.

"We want to see more progress in settling the land claims," he said.

"It will change the Mackenzie Valley without question."

In the pipe:

The Aboriginal Pipeline Group estimates that the $7 billion Mackenzie Gas Project will generate $40 billion in business activity, $32.9 billion of that in the Northwest Territories.

At the peak of construction, the project will employ 7,000 on the pipeline and pumping station. Once complete, it will need 50 full-time people to run the system delivering 34 million cubic metres of gas a day.

The federal government and Mackenzie Gas Project partners have committed $13 million for aboriginal skills development and training for employment in the NWT oil and gas industry.