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INUVIK
Frustration over the impending spike in fuel cost continues to be felt around Inuvik, with some residents saying they are considering leaving town.

"They're telling us that we have to pay twice as much, if not more, for the energy that they basically forced everybody to change to," said long-time resident Alex White. "As far as I'm concerned, I'm going to sell my house and leave because I've had enough of this."

White was born in Aklavik in 1947 and moved to Inuvik in 1956, and from that point his childhood was split between life on the trapline with his father in Aklavik and living with his mother and going to school in Inuvik.

When Inuvik was switching over to natural gas in 1999, White said there was a big political push to get residents to sign on – the GNWT even offered a 50 per cent rebate to residents who changed their diesel furnaces to natural gas. White says politicians should take responsibility for today's troubles because of the government's role in pushing natural gas on the town.

"Politicians, the Town of Inuvik – just about everybody who had any political clout said that it was the best thing since sliced bread," said White. "So, you can't put a finger on anybody, it was a conglomerate promotion."

His main concern is the lack of accountability.

"Nobody signed a definite contract, notarized and signed by a lawyer, that if they do not supply Inuvik with natural gas for the next 25 years, they are liable," said White. "It was just the good ol' boy handshake thing. But they were promising that the well should last 25 years, even supplying the power house with natural gas."

Many people are struggling to get by here with the lack of jobs left after the army and then the gas companies left, White said, and a doubled monthly fuel bill just isn't feasible for some people.

White said that he is not alone in considering leaving. Roy Goose also told Inuvik Drum that he has heard of people who are thinking of leaving town over this.

"(Inuvik) was born because Aklavik was sinking into the Delta. It was being flooded and the government decided to move Aklavik to the East Branch.

"Inuvik in my language means 'the place where I grew up – my hometown,'" said Goose. "So, my hometown, the place where I grew up, Inuvik, may soon just become a memory or a speck on Google Earth as a result of gas prices.

"One little thing like this, gas prices, it has a domino effect that affects everybody."

When asked about his thoughts on people leaving town over the natural gas shortage, Mayor Denny Rodgers said, "I hope that's not the case. What we're trying to do is come up with the best-case scenario.

"I want people to just hang on," he said.

Since the public meeting over two weeks ago, Rodgers said he has been accused of many things, including being on the payroll for Inuvik Gas.

Goose summed up a less-extreme version of a similar sentiment when he said, "Somebody has got to be accountable, and that person is running the meeting, and that meeting is being chaired by the mayor."

Rodgers was not mayor in 1999 when the fuel switch happened.

"I have to think that at the time, the leadership of the municipality made the right decision going forward," said Rodgers. "They made the decision that they thought was best for the residents of the town."

Rodgers said that he found out that Ikhil's second well was running out of natural gas about six months ago and that he does not care what company provides a solution, as long as there is one.

"We will sign a contract with anybody who wants to provide us gas or an energy source," said Rodgers. "We feel that with the amount of gas that's in the Beaufort Delta, with the amount of gas that we have access to, that there is still a long-term sustainable natural gas solution. It's just going to cost some money to get that gas flowing."

Natural gas is particularly enticing because it is a clean-burning fuel, it is a complete energy source and is less expensive, said Rodgers.

"We have enjoyed considerable saving during the past 13 years, but that doesn't make it better," he said.

There was never a set amount of time that the Ikhil wells were supposed to supply the Town of Inuvik with natural gas, said Rodgers. Within the 15-year franchise agreement signed in 1999, the only legally binding clause is that natural gas must be supplied to Inuvik residents for at least 15 per cent less than the current cost of diesel.

"The franchise agreement states that they will provide gas, basically, as long as they have it," said Rodgers. "There is no recourse in the franchise agreement to sue or to go after Inuvik Gas for an energy source."

So far, the only money on the books for a long-term energy solution is Ikhil Joint Venture's pledge to put up $25 million for a new natural gas project.

As a community, Inuvik would seek funding from the territorial government to either take a share in a new energy project, or to offset the cost, said Rodgers.

Plans are in motion with at least three companies who could provide natural gas, said Rodgers. MGM is saying it could potentially put in a plant that would convert natural gas to diesel and with the Umiak wells, could potentially produce up to 2,000 barrels of diesel per day – far beyond the town's needs, said Rodgers. The excess fuel could be sold, which makes the whole project more financially viable, and makes the odds of getting funding for it much better.

"Rather than go to the GNWT with our hand out and say 'We need money, we want a subsidy for our energy source,' we would rather go to them and say 'Yes, we need money but this is what we're doing.'"

As far as alternatives, Rodgers said, "My door is always open. If anybody has any idea, please come forward.

"But I can tell you that as a community, we've looked at many, many options, and we continue to look at them."

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