The Biggest Piece of the Puzzle

CBC News - North - Don't OK pipeline without land claim: Dehcho

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that today was probably the most important one in the NEB's Yellowknife hearings. Most important because today's testimony relates to what really remains the thorniest issue to be resolved before an MVP project can go "in the ground", the approval of the Dehcho First Nation.

The actual testimony sounds reasonable: Dehcho Grand Chief Sam Gargan appeared at the NEB's hearing today and presented a message that essentially states that the Dehcho cannot possibly sign on to the MVP before settling their own land claim. And, since the Dehcho occupy roughly 40% of the route planned for the pipeline, their approval is crucial. On the surface, this sounds obvious.

Anyone who knows the background here knows there's more to it. The way it actually looks (to me, an outsider) is more like the Dehcho has been using their approval of the MVP as a huge bargaining chip in their land claim negotiations with the Canadian Federal Government. This probably isn't entirely fair, but there has certainly been a history of confrontation, especially when it came to the tenure of former Dehcho Grand Chief Herb Norwegian. Norwegian was almost legendary as the "last man standing" against the project, and he never wavered in his demand for land claim settlement before agreeing to the MVP.

The trouble is, they tried to play off both sides against the middle. Now, they're kind of stuck. Many communities within the Dehcho territory have come to side agreements with the project proponents, eroding the position of the First Nation as a whole.

Is it fair to accuse the Dehcho of being opportunistic? There's a fantastic quote in this news item that came from George Erasmus, the Dehcho's chief negotiator:

Getting the new things that are different from the other agreements takes time, because they will like to keep as much as what they have already and we would like to create the new things, and the new instruments, and the new regimes.

I don't think it's stretching things to take this as an indication that they are looking for things that other FNs didn't get in their agreements.

The most encouraging fact that comes out in this piece is that the Dehcho actually supports Imperial Oil's request to push back the commitment deadline, as it takes a little pressure off them in their land claim negotiations. Again, I'll go out on a limb and say that with this endorsement, Imperial will probably get the extension they're asking for.