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Canada’s Northern shake-up Prentice moves but retains control of Mac gas line; Handley to step down Gary Park For Petroleum News
A political changing-of-the-guard is sweeping through Canada’s north, with a highly trusted federal cabinet minister leaving one key post but remaining the government’s point man for the Mackenzie Gas Project, while Northwest Territories Premier Joe Handley is preparing to leave politics.
A juggling of the federal cabinet announced by Prime Minister Stephen Harper saw Jim Prentice transferred from the Indian Affairs and Northern Development portfolio to the Industry post.
However, Prentice’s office said he will keep responsibility for overseeing the proposed Mackenzie Valley pipeline — a relief to northerners and the industry.
Two days later, Handley announced he will “seek new ways” to serve the NWT after the territories Oct. 1 election, ending a career that saw him elected to the legislative assembly in 1999 and become premier in 2003.
He will leave satisfied that the NWT has made strides towards its primary goal of “greater self-reliance through shared responsibility,” but concedes that the most important piece of business remains unfinished — an agreement-in-principle with the federal government on “devolution and resource-revenue sharing.”
Handley said the negotiating gap has been narrowed “substantially” and is hopeful a deal is within sight.
Prior to Prentice’s transfer “we were only two items away from settling and having an agreement in principle. We came very close,” he said.
Chuck Strahl new at Indian Affairs and Northern Development Handley hopes Prentice’s successor, former Agriculture Minister Chuck Strahl, will get up to speed on the issues and meet with him before Oct. 1. He is also anxious that Strahl will offer some continuity, rather than begin negotiations anew.
There has been some forward movement on two other projects of vital importance to the NWT’s economy — completion of a highway to the northern Mackenzie Delta port of Tuktoyaktuk and construction of the Mackenzie Valley pipeline.
“We believe the Mackenzie Gas Project is too advanced, too desirable and too important to the Northwest Territories to allow it to fail,” he said.
Speculation on Handley’s successor focuses on Finance Minister Floyd Roland.
Former NWT Premier Nellie Cournoyea, leader of the Inuvialuit aboriginal region, gave Handley a large helping of credit for the effort he has expended on the Mackenzie project, particularly for securing a long-term C$500 million socioeconomic fund to enable aboriginal communities to deal with the impact of a pipeline.
Had it not been for Handley’s support, she doubted the Inuvialuit would have been able to handle the issue, she said.
Prentice had solid reputation Prentice, considered one of Harper’s few and most trusted advisers, gained deep respect among First Nations and within the industry during his first 18 months in cabinet.
He entered politics with a solid reputation among aboriginal leaders.
As a lawyer, he had been commissioner of the Indian Specific Claims Commission — an independent agency that handles land claims disputes — from 1992 to 2001, but he leaves the cabinet post with a mountain of unresolved claims still on the table.
Pierre Alvarez, president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, gave a vote of support to Strahl, praising his handling of difficult agriculture issues with national implications.
Word that Prentice will retain control of the Mackenzie project file was widely welcomed, given that four other ministers have been entrusted with that job over the past eight years.
Cournoyea told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that Prentice’s knowledge of the file and his support of “responsible economic development” is key to the pipeline’s future direction.
Stephen Hazell, executive director of the Sierra Club of Canada, said Harper’s decision to leave Prentice in charge of the issue is more a reflection of the government’s priorities for a pipeline.
He said Prentice comes from Calgary and Calgary will derive the greatest economic benefits from the project going ahead, with Edmonton next, trailed by the North.
Hazell is worried the Harper government will end up negotiating subsidies with the Mackenzie Delta producers anchoring the project to ensure a pipeline is built.
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