Freeze sought on northern

pipeline construction

‘Moratorium parley charts campaign

“The Berger Report was a
Victory for the Dene people,”
chairman Len Guy and Bishop
Remi De Roo agreed before the 300
delegates to the UBC conference
for a 10-year moratorium on the
Northern pipeline construction.

“Tt was a victory for the
Canadian people,” Dene leader
George Erasmus added.

But in only 90days, the “victory”
of the heralded Berger report could
Very well be turned into a calamity
and destruction if the Trudeau
&0vernment bends to the pressure
of the United States to allow an
nergy corridor through Canada.

It was that deadline — the 90
days until September 1 when

udeau has scheduled his decision
— that gave urgency to the con-
ference at UBC as delegates made
Plans for a massive campaign to
Stop the pipeline — through either
the Mackenzie Valley or through

‘the Yukon.

The first stage of the campaign,
the conference resolved, is the
formation of a national co-
Ordinating committee that can
draw together the various

Provincial coalitions, the Dene and

the Council of Yukon Indians to
Press the demand for the im-
plementation of the Berger report.

By the time the National Energy

ard makes its recommendations
to the government on the
Mackenzie Valley and Alcan
(Yukon) pipeline routes, the co-
ordinating committee will have
held a major press conference in
Ottawa of leaders of the various
organizations demanding a
Moratorium on pipeline con-
struction.

After that come _ lobbies,
petitions, demonstrations and
every form of political pressure
that can be brought to bear on the
federal government to force them
to stop the pipeline.

The UBC conference was
Organized by the B.C. Working

Group for Moratorium — a
Coalition uniting the B.C.
Federation of Labor, the B.C.
Teachers Federation, the

theran, Anglican and Catholic
churches, the Union of B.C. Indian
Chiefs and some composite groups
Such as IDERA and CCIC.

Throughout the conference,
keynote speakers and delegates
Stressed the massive impact that a
Pipeline project would have not
Only on Native and northern
Communities, but on Canada as a
Whole. p

“The multinationals have their
Own definition of the ‘national
Interest,’ ’’? Bishop Remi De Roo
Stressed in opening the conference,

‘but it is a definition more and
More being questioned by the
Canadian people.”

_ “Those who believe labor will
Jump at jobs on a pipeline project
are mistaken,” co-chairman Len
Guy added. ‘‘The labor movement
Snot prepared to follow a policy of
Jobs at any price.”’

‘ Guy said that the Federation is
Not unconcerned with Canada’s
Unemployment crisis and said that
the labor movement has proposals
to create jobs. ‘‘But those
Proposals do not include a
Mackenzie Valley pipeline,’ he
Said. .

Pledging the resources of the
Federation to the fight, Guy called
for a “campaign that governmen
Can’t ignore.”’

And as Guy and a number of
Other speakers agreed, the pipeline
Project would most likely result in
less jobs and worse economic
Problems for Canada.

“These capital intensive ‘mega

projects,” as keynote speaker
Mel Watkins described them,
“really have the effect of draining
investment from other projects.”

Watkins went on to say that the
pipeline project would distort the
Canadian economy by taking in-
vestment funds away from the
manufacturing sector where stable
jobs are created, and by bringing
into Canada huge sums of new
foreign capital.

According to Watkins, it is highly
probable that the federal govern-

By
Fred
Wilson

ment will give the nod to the Alean
or Yukon route for a pipeline. The
Alean route would follow the
Alaska Highway through the
Yukon and northern B.C. and then
hook up with the pipeline south
from Edmonton. The Berger

report suggests implicit support

for the Alcan route by noting that
there are few environmental
hazards to contend with.

If the Alcan route is approved, a
spur line through Dawson City to
link up to the Mackenzie Delta
could be expected, if not» im-
mediately, then soon after,
Watkins said. “Imperial Oil is the
major company in Arctic Gas
(proponents of the Mackenzie
Valley route) and the major lease
holder in the Mackenzie Delta. It is
reasonable that they won’t go for
the Alcan route unless there is
some icing on the cake,”’ Watkins
suggested.

In either the Alcan or the Mack-
znei Valley route there would be
serious negative effects.

The first, and most important, .

would be the destruction of native
land claims.

“We are a unique nation in the
North and we are _ seeking
recognition of a Dene govern-
ment,’’ Dene leader George
Erasmus told the conference.

As the 28-year-old president of
the Northwest Territories Native
Brotherhood explained, the Dene
will not be satisfied with a James
Bay style land claim that involves
merely a transaction of money.
Rather the land claim must be “‘the
vehicle for bringing about a new
relationship between native people
and white society.

“We want a_ negotiated
agreement where there is clearly a
Dene territory,” Erasmus: said,
“ve want self-determination.”’

But, the Dene leader stressed,
even if such an agreement were
signed, there is no way to know
when it would be possible to go
ahead with the massive pipeline
project. “We have no intention of

stopping time,” he said, “but we .

need time to ‘‘de-colonize’’ and to
preserve our culture.”

The pipeline through Yukon
territory may even be worse for
native society than the Mackenzie
Valley route. ‘We would attempt
to minimize the effect of a pipeline
through the Mackenzie,” Erasmus
said, ‘‘we would try to isolate it and
restrict it. .

“But the Alcan route is on a high-

way that already exists and with
the gas line will come an oil line, a
railway, trucks and people. It
could be far more devastating.”

It was a fear echoed by Daniel
Johnson, chairman of the Council
of Yukon Indians. ‘‘Our land claim

could be our last opportunity to

claim our aboriginal rights. It
could be our last big opportunity to
claim equality,’ he said. “We
wen’t let a pipeline blow it for us.”’

Beyond the land claim issue,
Canadian independence lies before
the pipeline debate. For if the
pipeline is approved, it would in
effect be a corridor through
Canadian territory to transport
energy to the American military
industrial complex, siphoning off
Canadian resources on its way.

“It would be a contemporary
Panama Canal through Canada,’
Watkins pointed out.

Like the Columbia River treaty,
the pipeline agreement would give
the Americans passage through
Canada in perpetuity.

The oil companies’ argument is,
of course, that the gas is needed.
“Don’t let anyone fool you into
believing that,” UBC economist
John Heliwell warned. Heliwell
cited evidence proving that there
will be no use for nothern gas in
Canada for at least 20 years. And
Watkins pointed out that if exports
of natural gas were cut back,
present supplies could .fuel
Canadian industry until at least the
year 2035 without need for northern
resources.

Labor, the churches, Native
organizations, the Committee for
Justice and Liberty, teachers, the
Communist Party — the breadth of
the movement is formidable.

They face the world’s most
powerful multinational cor-
porations united in Arctic Gas and
united with the Carter and Trudeau
governments.

The stakes are also high: the
possible destruction of the nor-

thern environment, the genocide of -

native people and the further
erosion of Canadian sovereignty.
And there are only 90 days left.

LEN GUY (left), BISHOP REMI DE ROO, GEORGE ERASMUS ...
labor, church and Native groups united in moratorium demand.

—Sean Griffin photos

ALASKA

"| Wildlife Reservation
S@SSSes Aican Pipeline Route
qumeemeen Mackenzie Valley Route
444448 Tanker Pipeline Route

++++-++4+ Dempster Highway Route

BRITISH
COLUMBIA

f@ Vancouver

Bi NORTHWEST TERRITORIES

ALBERTA

MANITOBA -

ONTARIO

PROPOSED PIPELINE ROUTES ... the threat only varies in degrees.

—Maclean’s map
PACIFIC TRIBUNE—JUNE 3, 1977—Page 3