Fort Simpson (Oct 20/06) - The president of the Dehgah Alliance Society, a group formed to represent Deh Cho communities along the proposed pipeline, said the society has been "put on the shelf" indefinitely.

The decision became official when the society submitted a letter to the National Energy Board (NEB) panel stating it was no longer participating in the NEB hearings because it was "ceasing operations".

The letter was effective Sept. 29 and was entered Oct. 4 at the NEB hearings in Fort Simpson.

"It's a political decision," said Norwegian when asked why the organization was no longer operating.

Norwegian said the Dehgah Alliance is effectively "shelved" until the November leadership meeting in Fort Providence because of conflicts between the communities in terms of how access and benefit agreements will be negotiated.

At a July meeting to discuss access and benefits with the communities potentially affected by the Mackenzie Gas Project, Imperial Oil didn't want to deal with several parties, said Norwegian.

"They wanted to negotiate with one body," she said.

Chief Stan Sanguez of Jean Marie River said the problems began when Wrigley "wanted out" and Trout Lake decided to negotiate its own benefits agreement apart from the society.

"When it came to the unity of working together with industry, the strength wasn't there to negotiate," he said. Sanguez said the only way to benefit from the proposed Mackenzie Gas Project is for communities and leaders to put their differences behind them. "If we don't stick together, of course they're going to take us apart," he said.

Sanguez said how and when Deh Cho people will benefit from organizations like the Aboriginal Pipeline Group (APG) should also be on the table for discussion.

Norwegian said she is confident the communities will come to an agreement at the meeting next month.

"I'm pretty confident we'll be able to work together," she said, adding, "I'm going to move forward without them," if an agreement isn't reached.

Norwegian said the move to end the alliance has nothing to do with the new business entity she and Fort Liard Chief Harry Deneron are heading. That entity's goal is to unite communities to actively participate in the Aboriginal Pipeline Group.