Apex Resources Inc (SLMLF)

[fishin100]

November 4, 2013 at 7:42 PM From Mackenzie River

Feds dust off Mackenzie pipeline fund to give minister control

After years of sitting untouched, the socioeconomic fund intended to offset the impacts of the Mackenzie Valley pipeline on Aboriginal communities in the NWT recently made an appearance in a federal bill meant to amend who is in charge of the money.

Stuffed into yet another omnibus bill, the amendments to the Mackenzie Gas Project Impacts Act propose putting the federal minister in charge of administering funds set aside by the former Liberal government to deal with potential impacts from a pipeline down the valley.

The trust fund of $500 million was established as a way to garner support from the territory’s Aboriginal groups, and was intended to be divided among the communities, regions and organizations along the pipeline route.

According to the funding framework, $150 million is allocated for the Dehcho region, $82 million for the Gwich’in, $61 million for Tulita and Deline, $150 million for the Inuvialuit and $57 million for the Fort Good Hope-Colville Lake region.

The sums were to be distributed over 10 years once the gas project had been approved, and were designated clearly for projects designed and developed by the communities to address concerns about impacts of the $16-billion pipeline project on the land and traditional livelihoods.

An independent corporation was established to manage the funds and ensure money would flow to regional organizations only for projects intended to mitigate the socioeconomic impacts of the pipeline.

With the proposed bill, that could all change, prompting Western Arctic MP Dennis Bevington to question the need for the sudden shift when the pipeline project has been moribund going on a decade.

He said the proposed change – done without consultation with the Aboriginal groups who spent two years developing the fund – raises concerns about accountability and transparency.

“What we have now is a move to a system that would have a Conservative minister handing out cheques for particular projects as he or she deems appropriate,” he said in the House of Commons last week.

Bevington said the corporation, which was impartial, would have been free from potential political interference and instead follow the directions of the communities. He said he is worried the money may now go to the wrong areas.

“What we have is a $500-million fund that has now been cut loose by the government of Canada, by the Conservative government of Canada, into the hands of a minister. It may or may not work in the way that it was designed to work.”
http://norj.ca/2013/11/feds-dust-off-mackenzie-pipeline-fund-to-give-minister-control/