by Bob Weber
13-02-06
A split between some northern aboriginals and southern environmentalists over
Arctic energy development burst open like a piece of corroded pipe during
hearings on a proposed natural gas pipeline down the Mackenzie Valley.
Fred Carmichael, head of an aboriginal group that hopes to take a one-third
share in the project, likened interveners such as the Sierra Club and the World
Wildlife Fund to those who impoverished his people through the anti-fur lobby.
"Some similar organizations that killed our trapping economy in the past are
once again trying to destroy this opportunity, this opportunity to gain back our
independence, our self-sufficiency and our pride," Carmichael said. "Without
some form of economic base, we will surely destroy our people."
Carmichael was testifying before the seven-member Joint Review Panel, which
will report to the National Energy Board on the environmental and social effects
of the $ 7-bn proposal after a year of hearings in communities from Tuktoyaktuk
to Calgary.
Carmichael drew on his own life as a bush pilot for an impassioned speech before
the panel. He described how he spent years watching the changes in the Northwest
Territories as he flew from community to community.
He pointed out that the collapse of the trapping industry about 40 years ago
caught northern aboriginals in a snare of government dependency and poverty.
"This trapping economy was destroyed by people or organizations who either did
not understand or care that this was our livelihood." The settlement of land
claims and the creation of local regulatory boards have given aboriginals a way
out of that trap, said Carmichael.
"In the '60s and '70s, the exploration companies seemed to have little or no
respect for our lands. Today there's an understanding and respect between
industry and aboriginal people. The fact that I'm at this table representing
aboriginal people tells you how far we've come."
He pleaded with the panel to consider the past.
"Today our people are looking for a way to become self-sufficient again. For
this to happen, we must have an economic base. We see this opportunity in oil
and gas and pipeline development."
Outside the hearing, Stephen Hazell, conservation director for the Sierra Club,
defended his organization. He said it had nothing to do with the anti-fur
campaign and is working successfully with other aboriginal groups in the North.
"It's a myth that there's a split between the environmental and aboriginal
community," he said.
For example, the Sierra Club has worked with the Deh Cho First Nation to try
to expand Nahanni National Park.
"We have a pretty good working relationship with them," acknowledged Deh Cho
Chief Keyna Norwegian. The World Wildlife Fund, too, has played an important
role in a widely popular protected areas strategy intended to preserve important
ecosystems and cultural sites from energy development.
Hazell admits the Sierra Club opposes the pipeline, in part because the
fossil fuel economy is just as doomed as the trapping economy.
"We think (the pipeline) will create far more problems down the road."
Outside the hearing, Carmichael did say environmental groups have a role to play
in the proposed pipeline.
"Sure, they have a valid role, but why kill our economy?"
Executives of the three energy companies behind the development also spoke.
They warned the panel not to impose too many restrictions on the project.
"The project continues to face a number of challenges, not the least of which is
its overall economic viability," said David Collyer, vice-president of frontiers
for Shell Canada.
Glen Bishop of ConocoPhillips said the project will collapse if it is forced
to anticipate "every conceivable contingency." Potential problems such as
permafrost melting due to climate change are best dealt with as they arise, he
said.
"Adaptive management is the way to go as opposed to making it so prohibitively
expensive we can't afford to do it." Bishop said the project's viability is
being heavily squeezed by rising labour costs driven by oilsands expansion, as
well as declining prices for natural gas. Those prices are likely to come under
further pressure from liquid natural gas projects and the eventual development
of Alaskan gas.
In afternoon testimony, Imperial Oil officials responded to concerns that
climate change could threaten the pipeline by melting the permafrost that
supports it.
Imperial will conduct further, more specific studies once the project gets
closer to construction and watch for problems to develop, said spokesman Rick
Luckasavitch.
"To ensure pipeline integrity, we are considering the effects of potential
climate change on the design and we're developing monitoring and mitigation
programs to be used throughout the operating life of the pipelines."
Source: Canada Post