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Yukon, Northwest Territories pledge cooperation on pipeline Territorial premiers hold ‘warm and lively’ discussion; agree market must prevail in selecting pipeline routes, but Fentie makes case for Alaska Highway project Gary Park PNA Canadian Correspondent
A change of government in the Yukon has also opened the way to a change in dealings with the Northwest Territories, especially in the contentious routing of natural gas pipelines from the Arctic.
Just four days after being sworn into officer, Yukon Premier Dennis Fentie held his first face-to-face meeting with Northwest Territories Premier Stephen Kakfwi in what the two sides described as a “warm and lively” encounter.
Following the Dec. 4 discussion in Calgary, Kakfwi said in a statement that he and Fentie agreed “that the market will decide the pipeline route. Our job is to work together to ensure our territories benefit from development, no matter where it occurs in the North.”
Fentie said one of his priorities is “to encourage more east-west collaboration with our northern neighbors and I am very encouraged that Premier Kakfwi and I are off to a great start.”
Leaders anxious to ease tensions Those expressions of goodwill signaled that the two leaders are anxious to ease the tensions that have built up over recent years, with former Yukon premier Pat Duncan taking a hard line in support of the Alaska Highway option.
But Fentie, like Duncan, was emphatic that he does not want to see Canadian government interference in the selection of pipeline routes.
He said that pipelines along both the Alaska Highway and Mackenzie Valley offered the prospect of “huge benefits” for Canada, making it important for the federal government to be route neutral.
Rather than Natural Resources Minister Herb Dhaliwal threatening to block regulatory approvals for an Alaska Highway project if the United States revived legislation to offer loan guarantees, Canada should focus on being a “good facilitator in working with the Americans (on both pipelines) so that we in Canada can maximize our benefits,” Fentie said.
If the U.S. chose to offer some incentives to industry “that’s their business,” he said.
Final decision to gas producers With Yukon employment at its lowest level in eight years, Fentie said that although cooperation with the Northwest Territories is a priority, his government will take a “Yukon-first position,” while leaving a final decision to the gas producers.
Fentie’s own view is that the best alternative for moving both North Slope and Mackenzie Delta gas is a revival of the Dempster Lateral, with a pipeline link from the Delta into the Yukon, where it would feed into the Alaska Highway pipeline.
He said that in turn would spark a surge in exploration of the Yukon’s Eagle Plains area north of Dawson City.
Otherwise, Fentie and Kakfwi agreed to hold further discussions on climate change, economic development and job opportunities, with a special emphasis on involving aboriginal communities in shaping the future of Canada’s North.
“Resource development and the investment certainty it requires, particularly in northern Canada, is not possible without the involvement of aboriginal people who may be impacted by resource development projects,” Fentie said.
The two premiers were attending Resource Expo 2002, billed as the largest joint aboriginal and resource industry event in Canada.
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