Derek Neary
Northern News Services

Fort Simpson (Nov 25/05) - Imperial Oil isn't treating the Deh Cho the same as other NWT regions along the proposed Mackenzie Valley pipeline route, Keyna Norwegian said.

The multi-national oil and gas company seems to think the rules are different with the Deh Cho because it has no settled land claim, according to Norwegian, president of the Dehgah Alliance Society, which represents Deh Cho communities along the pipeline corridor.

"They (Imperial) are saying that they don't really need to talk to us for (land) access, they can go to the federal government," Norwegian said following a meeting with Imperial Oil representatives last week.

A few Sahtu communities signed tentative access and benefits agreements with Imperial last week. That came as a surprise, Norwegian said, and it puts more strain on the Deh Cho to get a deal done.

"In our previous meetings with the other regions, we were pretty confident at the time that we were going to stand together and support one another," she explained.

Nevertheless, the Dehgah Alliance Society is holding firm to its intentions to apply a one per cent tax to the Mackenzie Gas Project in the Deh Cho. That would amount to up to $20 million a year in revenues.

"We're saying this time around if you're not willing to pay, go elsewhere," Norwegian said, adding that the Deh Cho makes up 40 per cent of the pipeline route.

An Imperial Oil spokesperson said his company prefers to negotiate at the bargaining table rather than in the press.

"The last thing I want to do is get into a game of he said/she said," Pius Rolheiser said.

The East Deh Cho Alliance, which comprises Fort Providence, the Hay River Reserve and West Point, will hold its own negotiations with Imperial Oil, according to Richard Lafferty, of the Fort Providence Metis.

The eastern alliance expects the same or similar benefits as the Dehgah Alliance Society for parallel issues, such as socio-economic impacts, Lafferty noted. But the group is seeking additional compensation for impacts created by industrial transportation, particularly barges around sensitive ecological areas, he said.

"I've always been cautiously optimistic that there's a deal to be made providing our terms and conditions can be met," Lafferty said.

The pipeline proponents were expected to make an announcement Wednesday on whether they will proceed with regulatory hearings on the project. If they do go ahead with hearings, it's no guarantee the pipeline will be built, Rolheiser noted. If, on the other hand, they do not begin hearings, it may only be an indication that Imperial and its partners need more time, he said.

"It's not the be all and the end all," said Rolheiser. "It's just one step in a long process."