Fort Simpson (Oct 13/06) - Residents of Fort Simpson took the opportunity to speak to the National Energy Board (NEB) panel about their thoughts and concerns about the proposed Mackenzie Gas project.

Though their stories were different, the question they asked was the same: How will the people in the Deh Cho region benefit?

Jim Antoine spoke at the National Energy Board hearings held in Fort Simpson. He was concerned about the communities being consulted and benefiting from the Mackenzie Gas Project. - Jessica Gray/NNSL photo

The residents spoke during a session specifically to hear oral statements Oct. 4. The hearings were held Oct. 4 and 5.

Around 30 residents attended the hearings throughout the week.

"There's been very little engagement with the communities with respect of the future plans of communities like Fort Simpson," said resident Dennis Nelner.

His concern was that Deh Cho communities weren't consulted by the groups proposing the pipeline and so aren't prepared for the changes the pipeline project would inevitably bring.

Nelner said he was still unsure how businesses in the region might benefit from developing a natural gas pipeline.

"No one knows, right?" he said.

Jim Antoine followed Nelner and said he'd been following the NEB hearings so far.

He told the panel no one was sure how the project and its construction, which is slated to be built along many communities in the North, will affect the region.

Antoine said the communities should have a voice in the project and how it progresses.

"The concern is the amount of impact and say we would like to have," said Antoine.

"It hasn't been answered to the full satisfaction to a lot of people along the way," he said.

Though Antoine said he recognizes the "good" the project could bring to the region, keeping the work and money for construction in the North should be a priority.

Eric Menicoche, who described himself as a "Dene from the community," echoed what many others have said at other hearings about preserving First Nations traditions and the land they live on.

"I have concerns about the animals and fish that live on the land," said Menicoche.

Continuing, Menicoche said he couldn't see how the pipeline would benefit his people in the short or long-term.

Lorayne Menicoche Moses made similar comments, worried that because she did not fully support the project, her words had less meaning.

"Why is it that we can't say no? It seems like when we're going to say no, we're offending people," she said.

Nahendeh MLA Kevin Menicoche was the first to present a statement at the session Wednesday evening.

In it, he supported the decision Trout Lake made to cancel the hearing in its community to participate in the fall hunt for moose.

"They were just doing what they love," said Menicoche, speaking out against media that he said criticized the community unfairly.

Menicoche said people in the NWT must be considered.

"This time the North and Northerners must benefit from development," he said.

The NEB hearings are designed to look at the engineering, safety, and the economics of the proposed project to build a pipeline from the Beaufort Sea south through the NWT carrying natural gas to Alberta.

Company representatives involved in the project did a presentation on Oct. 5 outlining the project.

The plans document the construction of three anchor fields connected to 1,194 km of buried gas pipeline running through the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline.

Wrigley, Fort Simpson, Jean Marie River, and Trout Lake in the Deh Cho are situated along the proposed pipeline.

Imperial Oil and its partners projected the gas flowing as early as 2011 if approved by the NEB with building beginning in 2008.