Mackenzie talks make little headway
Three days of talks — the first between northern aboriginal leaders and Imperial Oil since spring — ended Aug. 12 with no evident progress on a deal to clear more obstacles blocking development of the C$7 billion Mackenzie Gas Project.
Stephen Kakfwi, negotiator for the Dene of Fort Good Hope and a former premier of the Northwest Territories, offered a discouraging report card on the negotiations.
He told reporters that the land access and benefits offer from Imperial to the communities was disappointing.
Meanwhile, separate talks have started with the objective of imposing a property tax on “on all private lands, public lands and aboriginal lands” affected by the project. Communities want to share taxes Kakfwi said the objective is for aboriginal communities along the pipeline right of way and the Northwest Territories government to share about C$100 million a year in taxes.
“We’re dirt poor right now and we don’t intend to stay that way,” Kakfwi said.
The returns for aboriginals would match those proposed by the Canadian government in July, when it agreed to contribute C$500 million over 10 years to help five aboriginal groups cope with the social and economic impact of a pipeline.
Imperial has said that settling one-time access and benefits agreements is crucial if public hearings involving 15 regulatory agencies are to start no later than this fall.
The Mackenzie partners suspended field work on the project until there was significant progress on the outstanding issues and an acceptance by government of its role in dealing with aboriginal demands.
Despite substantial progress over the last four months, the consortium is still looking for greater confidence that the regulators can complete their work within a reasonable time frame and the thousands of permits needed can be issued.
—Gary Park
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