Some of the accumulated clouds over the Mackenzie Gas Project have been scattered, but it’s not yet clear sailing for the C$7 billion venture.
And until all of the fog has dispersed, the Alaska Highway pipeline will be kept waiting for a decision from the Canadian government.
Ending months of threatened lawsuits, the Deh Cho First Nations and federal government announced an out-of-court settlement July 11, meaning that the Deh Cho no longer have the power to stand in the way of the project.
However, the government will resume “land, resources and governance” negotiations with the Deh Cho and the community of 4,500 people will receive C$31.5 million in federal money — C$15 million for economic development, C$6 million to allow full participation on the pipeline review and C$10.5 million to prepare for the land claims and self-government negotiations.
Deh Cho Grand Chief Herb Norwegian told reporters that “everything is back on track.”
He said the Deh Cho are “on an equal footing and we can now start dealing with some of the issues that are before us.
However, Norwegian said “we still have some very difficult negotiations ahead with the oil companies that want access to our lands.”
Indian and Northern Affairs Minister Andy Scott said the Canadian government’s discussions with the Deh Cho are “back on track and will proceed with renewed vigor — and in turn generate greater certainty in the Mackenzie Valley.”
But there is still no certainty that public hearings on the Mackenzie project will begin in late summer or early fall.
Northwest Territories’ issues still on table
Still on the table are talks involving the Canadian and Northwest Territories governments over the Northwest Territories’ demand for C$100 million a year to cover the social and economic impacts of a pipeline, pending a resolution of the territories’ claim to a larger share of resources taxes and royalties.
Until there is progress on those fronts, decisions on who will build the Canadian portion of the US$15 billion Alaska pipeline will have to wait, Canadian Finance Minister Ralph Goodale said following meetings with U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow.
“Our first priority is to make sure we get the work done, in a timely way, on the Mackenzie Valley project so that it can proceed at the earliest possible moment,” he told reporters July 8.
“There is progress on that front. We’re quite encouraged about how the Mackenzie Valley situation is now unfolding,” he said.
“Right behind that is the Alaska project.”
Beyond that, Goodale would not be drawn into predicting timelines, pointing out that Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan is the senior Canadian cabinet minister working the file.
Snow said he was not concerned about the order of events, adding he was sure Canada would “make a considered judgment through its review process.”
Goodale said negotiations involving the Mackenzie gas producers, governments and aboriginal groups are moving ahead.
That assessment was endorsed by Bob Reid, president of the Aboriginal Pipeline Group, which hopes to take a one-third equity position in the Mackenzie pipeline.
He told a forum for investment analysts that there have been indications of progress towards access and benefits agreements, opening the way for the pipeline to cross aboriginal lands, as well as towards the settlement of a land claim by the Deh Cho First Nations.
Reid said there is “too much at stake to lose this project,” which he said will provide “long-term dividends” to aboriginal communities for as long as gas flows from the Canadian Arctic.
He was less cheerful about the regulatory process, noting that more than 3,000 information requests (80 percent of them from government) were made after the 9,500-page Mackenzie application was filed last October.
