Kaska, Yukon progress on Alaska pipeline

Gary Park

Petroleum News Calgary correspondent

An agreement in principle between the Kaska Nation and Foothills Pipe Lines is another step towards breaking a logjam over resource development in the southeastern Yukon.

The Jan. 15 signing moves the two parties closer to a deal that specifies benefits and opportunities for the five communities that make up the Kaska Nation if the Alaska Highway gas pipeline is built across the Yukon. The first stage was completed in November 2001, but completion of the second and third phases is almost two years behind schedule.

Foothills, its 100 percent owner TransCanada, and their subsidiaries hold certificates to build the Canadian and Alaska portions of the highway project.The Kaska Nation traditional territory covers about 25 percent of the Yukon, adjacent areas of the Northwest Territories and about 10 percent of British Columbia.

David Porter, chair of the Kaska Dena Council, said the latest agreement is an “important step forward” in achieving Kaska input in the planning stage for the pipeline and deciding how benefits will be delivered.

“It does not limit the Kaska from working with our pipeline companies, nor does it commit us to any one project,” he said.

Foothills Chief Executive Officer Tony Palmer said the agreement “reaffirms our commitment to work cooperatively to achieve mutual objectives” on the project.

Opening the southeastern Yukon to resource development has been prolonged process, but Yukon Premier Dennis Fentie hopes to see the first sale of mineral rights this year under an interim agreement that was signed last May by his government and the Kaska.

That bilateral pact laid the groundwork for sharing benefits from any land and resource development within the Kaska territory. It also committed the two sides to work co-operatively to conclude Kaska land claim negotiations with the Canadian government.

Fentie’s government is eager to kick-start energy exploration more than five years after responsibility for oil and gas resources was transferred from the federal government. However, the federal mandate covering land claim agreements has expired, prompting Fentie to accuse the federal government of “abdicating its responsibility.”

The interim agreement produced a flurry of criticism from Yukon’s opposition leaders, who accused Fentie of going outside the land claims process and running the risk of stalling resource development and discouraging the settlement of claims.

Former Premier Pat Duncan said the agreement gave the Kaska veto over resource development, including the Alaska pipeline, while the official opposition leader Todd Hardy said deals outside the land claims “create more uncertainty” causing other Yukon first nations to revisit their claims settlements.