Jack Danylchuk
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Nov 28/05) - Imperial Oil Ltd. is ready to start public hearings on the proposed $7 billion Mackenzie Gas Project, the company announced last week.

As a prelude to regulatory hearings in January, the National Energy Board has scheduled pre-hearing planning conferences for next week. The board is asking the public for their views on topics they want addressed at the hearings; where they want to make a presentation and how much time they need; comments on the process. Inuvik, Ingamo Hall, Dec. 5, 2-5 p.m. or 6-9 p.m. Yellowknife. Explorer Hotel, Dec. 7, 1-4 p.m. or 7-10 p.m. Fort Good Hope, K'asho Got'ine Council community hall, Dec. 12, 6-10 p.m. Fort Simpson, Village community hall, Dec. 13, 6-10 p.m. /DIV>

But while many business and political leaders across the Territories welcomed the news, they see the hearings as another step in a long process, and Deh Cho leaders continue to talk tough.

"We are greatly heartened," Nellie Cournoyea, chair of the Inuvialuit Regional Corp. said in a prepared statement.

"Our agreement on the essential terms of access and benefits agreements will contribute to the momentum now firmly re-established through the announcement."

Cournoyea's views were echoed by Premier Joe Handley, but Dehcho First Nations Grand Chief Herb Norwegian labeled Imperial's move as "aggressive."

"Imperial has made this decision despite the fact that Dehcho First Nations communities have only recently begun discussion on land access," Norwegian said in a press release.

"We will not allow Imperial Oil or Canada to trample Dehcho rights simply for the sake of quickly building this pipeline."

Despite having agreed to a settlement with the federal government in July to end previous court cases that impeded the pipeline, another lawsuit isn't out of the question, according to Keyna Norwegian, president of the Dehgah Alliance Society, which represents the Deh Cho pipeline corridor communities.

The Deh Cho's response will largely hinge on the outcome of an upcoming meeting with Imperial Oil in Calgary, she said.

"We're really all just waiting for Dec. 12 to see what comes out of it," said Norwegian.

Word of Imperial's willingness to proceed to hearings was welcomed as "good news" by Premier Joe Handley.

The same day, the territorial government released a letter "offering strong encouragement to industry to proceed to the public hearing phase."

Public hearings before the National Energy Board and the Joint Review Panel are expected to begin in January with recommendations to come early in 2007.

Yellowknife Mayor Gord Van Tighem said the announcement "provides some certainty for the next little while." Van Tighem expects the hearings to create a buzz of excitement in Yellowknife, but most of the impact of the project will be felt in communities along the pipeline route.

Randy Broiles, Imperial's senior vice-president, said "sufficient progress has been made in all key areas - clarity of the regulatory process, access and benefits agreements, and fiscal framework - for us to proceed."

Broiles cautioned that the decision to go to public hearings isn't a signal that the partners will proceed with the project - already more than a year behind schedule.

The final decision depends on a host of issues, including regulatory approvals, terms of access and benefits agreements, royalties and taxes, gas markets and project costs, Broiles said.