Fort Simpson (Apr 15/05) - An ongoing point of contention among Dehcho First Nations reared its head on the opening morning of a socio-economic impacts conference in Fort Simpson.

Richard Lafferty, a Fort Providence Metis delegate, publicly made it clear to federal officials on Tuesday that some Deh Cho communities, such as Fort Providence, are being excluded from the Deh Gah Alliance Society. That organization comprises the communities along the proposed pipeline corridor. The society represents the Dehcho First Nations (DFN) in pipeline negotiations.

"We're not at the table and we're not being dealt with directly by the territorial (government) or the feds," Lafferty told the Drum afterwards. "If we're not at the table, nobody's going to hear our concerns."

He said Fort Providence will notice more traffic during pipeline construction than any of the communities up the Mackenzie Valley. That traffic will create more road kill, namely slaughtered bison, Lafferty noted.

The diamond mines and activity at Cameron Hills have already created an increase in transport trucks and tankers, for which Fort Providence isn't compensated, he said.

"Every piece of junk that goes up there (to the mines) goes by my back door," said Lafferty.

Keyna Norwegian, chief of the Liidlii Kue First Nation and president of the Deh Gah Alliance Society, which organized the conference, acknowledged that Fort Providence will indeed be impacted by the building of the pipeline. However, the society and the Pipeline Working Group lacked the funding to include all Deh Cho communities and cover associated travel costs, she said.

The DFN will hold an internal strategy session on Thursday and Friday. Norwegian said the friction among the communities is no secret, but wishes Lafferty would have withheld his remarks until Thursday.

Regardless, she expressed optimism that a resolution will be reached by Friday. She noted that Deh Cho elders have been meeting on the matter and will make a recommendation to the leaders.

Searching for answers

Later on Tuesday morning, representatives from Imperial Oil made a presentation on measures to address issues such as local employment, business, training and education, health and social services, and tradition and culture. Some of the plans were detailed, others were not.

Delegate Wesley Hardisty said the pipeline proponents weren't providing enough answers, just promises to come up with a plan.

Imperial's Alan Kennedy asked for patience and said forums like this one will help the oil and gas companies find answers.

Delegate Ethel Lamothe told the Imperial representatives that aboriginal traditional knowledge doesn't simply amount to where a leg-hold trap was placed 10 years ago. She said there is something lacking in industry's attempts at communication.

"It's not just the words, but the spirit," said Lamothe.

Julian Landry of Kakisa questioned Imperial's sincerity to negotiate access and benefits agreements with First Nations.

Dee Brandes replied that Imperial is "deeply" into negotiations with the Inuvialuit and Gwich'in. She added that the Deh Cho has been urged to come to the table.