Canada should use summit to oppose Alaska oil plan - WWF
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CANADA: April 11, 2001
CALGARY, Alberta - Canada should use the upcoming Summit of the Americas in Quebec City to hammer home its opposition to U.S. plans to open up Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, the World Wildlife Fund said yesterday.
The WWF said any development in the 19-million-acre (7.7-million-hectare) refuge would harm the region's Porcupine caribou herd and the native Gwich'in people who depend on it, and the group enlisted former Canadian Prime Minister John Turner to help spread its message.
Canada has already said it opposes drilling in the rugged northern refuge that borders its remote Yukon Territory.
Prime Minister Jean Chretien has worked to promote natural gas development in Canada's own Arctic regions as a better solution to resolve the problem of tight U.S. energy supplies.
"With 34 heads of government in Quebec City and with continental energy issues certain to be discussed, I can't imagine a better opportunity for our government to step forward publicly and make clear its firm opposition to any future development, drilling or production of oil and gas from the Arctic refuge," Turner, who led Canada for 2-1/2 months in 1984, said in a statement.
The WWF said Turner made the remarks after meetings with Yukon Premier Pat Duncan, Northwest Territories Premier Stephen Kakfwi and various community leaders from the region.
On Sunday, U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney shrugged off criticism of the administration's environmental policies and pledged to pursue the opening of Alaskan reserve to oil drilling, saying only 2,000 acres would be disturbed.
Critics say the refuge's coastal plain is the summer calving area for the Porcupine caribou herd, 130,000 animals that migrate annually from the Yukon and western Northwest Territories.
"In my view, those messages must be delivered clearly to President Bush by our prime minister with the world watching. Quebec City is the place to say it," Turner said.
The Summit of the Americas, being held to discuss a range of issues including the creation of a free trade area for the western hemisphere, takes place April 20-22.
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