Aboriginal groups in the Northwest Territories, Yukon and Alaska plan to work together to secure maximum benefits for native people from two proposed Arctic natural-gas pipeline mega-projects.
Seven First Nations from the Yukon and British Columbia along the Alaska Highway pipeline route signed a co-operation protocol last week in Calgary.
The agreement creates a co-ordinating body to address aboriginal groups’ collective interests during the planning and development stages of the $20-billion US pipeline.
“We see this as being the body that will engage in discussions with governments and industries, to protect our aboriginal interests and mitigate any adverse developments,” said Dave Porter, a spokesman for the Alaska Highway Aboriginal Pipeline Group.
The new group intends to forge close ties with aboriginal communities in the N.W.T. and Alaska, to ensure that native people benefit in terms of equity buy-in, royalty revenue and jobs from both the Alaska Highway pipeline and the $5-billion Mackenzie Valley pipeline project, Porter said. The group includes the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations, Kaska Dena Council, Kwanlin Dun First Nation, Liard First Nation, Ross River Dena Council, White River First Nation and Ta’an Kwach’an Council.
The governments of the N.W.T. and the Yukon have also signed a co-operation deal that provides for reciprocal job opportunities and contract work for both territories from each of the pipeline projects, Porter said.
But the agreement doesn’t go as far as saying that the Mackenzie pipeline should be built first, which N.W.T. Premier Stephen Kakfwi and N.W.T. aboriginal groups advocate.
The Aboriginal Pipeline Group in the N.W.T. is further ahead than its counterpart in the Yukon, having already secured an agreement with the Mackenzie Delta gas producers for an ownership interest of up to one-third in the Mackenzie Valley pipeline.
