Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Since 1921 to 2010 it’s about 89 years since we’ve had oilfields in the Northwest Territories. In 1998, the oilfields started to develop and earn some profit and revenue from the Norman Wells oilfield through the pipeline that’s going to Zama. I want to ask the Minister of ITI what has been done to ensure that some of those revenues being generated from the development of the pipeline through the Sahtu region, that these revenues will reach the people in the North and the people in the Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister responsible for Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.
Norman Wells oilfield revenues have been a longstanding issue and irritant for this government. I guess it started when the land claims were negotiated for both the Gwich’in and Sahtu, which had provisions for the sharing of royalty revenues. As the Member knows, the Norman Wells oilfield revenues were deemed to be, or understood to be, royalties, but we took the federal government to court to get them to formally agree that those were royalties. The federal government went to court and lost and in order to pay the outstanding royalties to the Gwich’in and the Sahtu, the federal government said they could only get the money if they signed a cease and desist order whereby they would no longer recognize Norman Wells royalties as revenue. So they are saying it’s equity and we’ve been stuck ever since.
I want to ask this Minister why this government has not pursued an equity position with the Mackenzie Gas Project.
We haven’t pursued it because we don’t have the money. To put it bluntly, the royalties keep accruing to the federal government. We’ve been pursuing, collecting it through the devolution and resource revenue sharing negotiations.
Okay, well, that opens up a whole bunch of questions, but I will stay on this one here. Is the Government of the Northwest Territories working to negotiate some type of agreement with Ottawa in relation to the Mackenzie Gas Project in terms of receiving some money through equity or royalties or some regime?
We are supporting the Aboriginal Pipeline Group, who have negotiated a one-third interest in the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline. That involves, as far as I understand it, aboriginal governments of all the land claimant groups.
In terms of the whole issue of the oilfields and the pipeline, I want to ask the Minister if his Cabinet has ever looked at the issue of dealing with the ownership of the oilfields. I know the federal government has one-third ownership of the oilfields as part of the terms of the GNWT asking if they can have a percentage of that share of the oilfields.
My understanding is that has been on the negotiating table from day one, with regard to devolution and resource revenue sharing. The federal government has different views on how the Norman Wells revenues or equity position should be dealt with, but it’s something that will have to be negotiated as part of devolution and resource revenue sharing.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
