Delta residents must prepare for pipeline: senate committee
Katie May
Northern News Services
Published Monday, September 28, 2009
INUVIK - The federal government needs to invest more money into the Canadian Coast Guard as the "first line of defence" for Arctic sovereignty, senators heard during meetings in Inuvik last week.
The Standing Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans was in Inuvik on Wednesday following public meetings in Yellowknife earlier in the week as part of a study of Arctic fisheries and ocean management.
The committee, comprised of senators from Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island and British Columbia, met with Inuvialuit, Gwich'in and Sahtu representatives to discuss the need for more research on the impacts of Arctic climate change, preparation for the Mackenzie gas project and sovereignty operations.
Former Liberal Western Arctic MP Ethel Blondin-Andrew made a presentation to the committee about the importance of the Coast Guard in the government's sovereignty mission. Blondin-Andrew was not available for comment last week, but committee chair Sen. Bill Rompkey said the committee was particularly interested in Coast Guard operations.
"We heard lately that more training needs to be done. I mean, money is a big issue. Money for training, money for research, money for the Coast Guard," he said. "We just heard from Ethel Blondin-Andrew that the Coast Guard needs to be re-capitalized. There needs to be more money put in the Coast Guard and she feels strongly, and I think others do too, that this is our first line of defence and our main instrument for exercising government sovereignty."
The committee also discussed the United States' recently imposed fishing moratorium on Arctic waters, which encompasses a disputed area governed by an Inuvialuit land claims agreement.
"We talked with the Inuvialuit about that particularly and it's in part of their land claims area so they have the right to be consulted on that. It's a problematic issue," Rompkey said.
The senators did not discuss imposing a similar Canadian moratorium on the Beaufort Sea.
Deputy chair Sen. Ethel Cochrane emphasized that Mackenzie Delta residents must prepare themselves for the pipeline's arrival.
"We've got to get our youth educated in regards to the various skill sets needed. We have to get businesses prepared with infrastructure that needs to be done so that when this happens, we're going to take advantage. And we, I'm talking about the people, the different groups that are here - they'll take advantage of the jobs and so on because this is a one-shot deal," she said.
The committee will draft recommendations based on the public meetings later this year.
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