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(5) Mackenzie Gas Project
CBC Special Report, Wednesday, January 26, 2005, 7:20 a.m.
CBC: To Suzette Montreuil the environmental assessment of a potential
Mackenzie Valley pipeline looks an awful lot like a board game. In this
commentary this member of Alternatives North lays out her impressions of
the pros and cons of a pipeline and to her there are far more negative
consequences on the board.
MONTREUIL: The road map for the environmental assessment for the Mackenzie
gas project looks remarkably like a Snakes and Ladders board game only
with fewer ladders to move forward and too many snakes that make you slide
back down, but I have decided to play the environmental review game. So
here I go working my way through the mounds of paper each player has to
search.
During the community consultations organised by Imperial Oil the
people of the Valley took great pains to point out the social impacts they
feared would come with the Mackenzie gas project. Increased alcohol
consumption, stress on families, increased violence especially against
women and children and crime. The companies outline what they are willing
to do to mitigate these problems and we will argue during the hearings
whether it is enough, but even Imperial Oil has pointed out that the GNWT
has to greatly beef up its services if it even hopes to deal with an
influx of up to 14,000 workers in 50 to 60 work camps.
So here is my question. Where is the plan that is going to get the
communities ready for the steamroller?
No, that's not really the question. Where is the money that is going to
pay for the plan to get us ready?
The GNWT is preparing for cuts to its budget this year. So we know it's
not in GNWT coffers and it isn't coming from the federally funded northern
development strategy, which after all is only $120 million divided between
the three territories over several years.
As matters now stand the GNWT is not going to make any significant money
out of this project. On the contrary, it's going to be paying big bucks to
deal with the impacts. So if we aren't ready, why the rush? The GNWT
position should be no pipeline until we have both a devolution agreement
and big cash up front to pay for the readiness plan. But instead it seems
to be one pipeline coming right up, despite the fact that the project
being contemplated is much more than one stand alone pipeline.
So I have to ask, why are we doing this? So the Beaufort Delta and the
hills around Colville Lake can end up looking like Swiss cheese? So some
northerners can get short-term entry-level jobs or maybe so we can provide
a relatively clean fuel to Alberta so they can extract dirty oil out of
the tar sands to sell to the Americans?
Call me simplistic, but I don't get it.
On this dark January morning for commentary, I am Suzette Montreuil from
Yellowknife.
CBC: Suzette Montreuil is with Alternatives North, a Yellowknife-based
social advocacy group.
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