There is no reason why a recent court ruling that has interrupted regulatory hearings should delay progress on the Mackenzie Gas Project, said federal Indian Affairs and Northern Development Minister Jim Prentice.
“We can deal with the court decision and the consequences of it and move forward,” he said in mid-November. “I don’t think it needs to occasion any delay.”
Prentice said the Canadian government has yet to decide whether it will appeal a verdict by Federal Court of Canada Judge Michael Phelan that the government had failed to consult with northern Alberta’s Dene Tha First Nation, which claimed it was left out of the consultation process although the proposed Mackenzie pipeline would cross its traditional land.
Prentice said regulatory work should be able to accommodate the Dene Tha’s needs without further delaying the consultation process.
Phelan ordered a Joint Review Panel, dealing with socio-economic impacts, must consult with the Dene Tha before delivering a final recommendation to Canada’s National Energy Board in July 2007 allowing the federal regulator to decide whether it will sanction the project.
He said the parties involved should find ways to remedy the government’s oversight and plans to issue orders on how consultations between the government and the aboriginal community should proceed.
The review panel has held 66 days of hearings and has 15 more hearings covering 25 hearing days on its schedule.
May be a request for some hearings to be reopened
Complicating matters is the possibility that the Dene Tha will request that some hearings that have already taken place since January should be reopened.
Bob Freedman, a lawyer for the first nation, said the Dene Tha want the same access and benefits agreements that Mackenzie lead partner Imperial Oil has negotiated with other first nations along the pipeline right of way.
He said hearings relating to environmental impacts on specific communities can go forward, but that would change if the panel considered migratory birds or wildlife.
That issue has surfaced through the Sierra Club of Canada and the Worlds Wildlife Fund, who contend the Kendall Island Bird Sanctuary, located about 80 miles north of Inuvik, Northwest Territories, is threatened by Mackenzie gas fields.
The Sierra Club told the review panel the island would be flooded as the land sinks after gas is withdrawn, a problem it said would be compounded by rising sea levels due to global warming.
The sanctuary is only partly protected because the federal regulators have already issued a number of significant energy discovery licenses to exploration companies.
