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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Western Arctic MP Dennis Bevington warns the federal government will run into major barriers if it follows through on its throne speech promise to "reduce regulatory and other barriers" to building the proposed Mackenzie Valley natural gas pipeline.

"They are going to run into a lot of problems with constitutionally-protected land claims and changing the direction of our political evolution," Bevington said. "Those aren't things Northerners take lightly," particularly if the government follows the advice of the Neil McCrank report - an assessment done on the environmental regulatory systems of the North earlier this year.

Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean delivered the 143rd throne speech on Wednesday, outlining the goals of the Conservative minority government. The 35-minute speech focused mainly on the ailing economy and how Canada needs to direct its efforts to help strengthen a struggling international financial system in order to protect our own.

When asked about easing the regulatory systems in the North, federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq said the reduction won't allow lax environmental regulation but will improve the efficiency of the process.

"We want to streamline the process instead of having a number of different agencies that sectors have to go to for approval," Aglukkaq said. "It's a strategy to improve the current regimes and it's a shared system with shared decision making.

"Right now they have to go through three systems to get approval and we want to make that more efficient. We want to be more quick in addressing the review process in the North."

Premier Floyd Roland said there needs to be clarity to regulatory processes to make them flow easier and said settled claims is part of the fix in dealing with land and environmental issues.

"They use 1,000 days to go through a process, so that is frustrating from the industry side," Roland said. "There does need to be some clarity in all of the roles between the federal, territorial and aboriginal governments and organizations."

Bevington wonders how the government can sell a major project in a time of financial uncertainty.

"When it comes to talking about the pipeline, in this time when there is a credit crunch on and where endeavours are not moving ahead, I don't know how they will promote that," Bevington said. "Infrastructure is a big item and if they want to talk about promoting a pipeline they might have talked about the need for infrastructure and community development here in the North."

The speech spoke of a Northern strategy including the Northern Development Agency. Aglukkaq said the government is excited about the development agency and the prospects it has to build on the economic potential of the North.

"The development agency is one of the ways to bring together development activities into one focused agency with one focused vision which is to help build a better system to respond to initiatives in the North," Aglukkaq said.

Premier Roland hopes this agency will be based in the NWT.

"We'd say because the opportunities for development are greatest in the territory right now that we would hope to have that agency structured in the NWT," he said.

The government has also promised to take steps so aboriginal Canadians will be able to take advantage of economic opportunities, focusing specifically on education. Roland is skeptical of this.

"Sounds very good but normally when we hear about First Nations it's to do with reserves," he said. "Provinces benefit from this but not territories, even though we have a couple small reserves. We're going to have to try and see that the territories will be able to engage in that programming."

The speech spoke of streamlining government programs and services and reviewing budgets, hinting at possible funding and job cuts. Bevington said he is concerned about the definition of "essential programs" used in the speech.

"They said departments will receive the funding they need to run their programs and services and no more," he said. "What is going to be the definition of essential programs and services? When we think of things like housing where the funds now in the budget are going to be sunsetted next year, is it going to mean no new money for housing? That's a serious consideration for the North."

The promise to create an objective to increase the use of non-greenhouse-gas-emitting electricity sources nationally to 90 per cent by 2020 is a step in the right direction and something Bevington and Roland are pleased with.

"We've got lots of projects in the North that are going to help achieve that," Bevington said. "We will see whether they are willing to come to bat with the incentives to make that happen.

"It's important for us because we're working on expanding our hydro potential and we're looking at alternative sources like wind and biomass," he said. "It's good but let's turn it into something real."