Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry facts for kids
The Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry, also known as the Berger Inquiry, was a big study in Canada. It started on March 21, 1974. The Canadian government asked Justice Thomas Berger to lead it.
The main goal was to look at a plan for a huge gas pipeline. This pipeline would run through the Yukon and the Mackenzie River Valley in the Northwest Territories. The study wanted to find out how this pipeline would affect the people, the environment, and the economy in these areas.
The inquiry cost about C$5.3 million. It gathered a lot of information, filling 283 books! In the end, the study suggested that no pipeline should be built in the northern Yukon. It also said that building a pipeline in the Mackenzie Valley should wait for 10 years.
Contents
How the Study Worked
Justice Thomas Berger was the person in charge of this important study. He listened to many different groups who cared about the pipeline. Fourteen groups were full participants, meaning they attended all meetings and shared their views.
A very important part of the inquiry was that it gave a strong voice to the Indigenous people. These were the people whose traditional lands the pipeline would cross.
Justice Berger traveled a lot in the North to prepare for the hearings. He visited all 35 communities along the Mackenzie River Valley. He also went to other cities across Canada to hear what people thought. He met with Dene, Inuit, and Métis people, as well as non-Indigenous residents. He held formal meetings in Yellowknife to hear from experts. After that, he held community meetings across the Northwest Territories and the Yukon. These community meetings were very important in helping him form his opinions.
What the Study Found
Justice Berger's main report was released in two parts. The first part came out on June 9, 1977. The report was called Northern Frontier, Northern Homeland. It pointed out that while the Mackenzie Valley could be the site of a "biggest project in the history of free enterprise", it was also home to many people whose lives would change a lot because of the pipeline.
Impact on Nature
The Berger Report said that the northern Yukon was too sensitive to handle a pipeline. Berger warned that a gas pipeline could lead to an oil pipeline later. If an energy path was built, it would need many roads, airports, and new towns to support it. This would have a huge impact on the ecosystem (both nature and its people). It would be like building a railway across all of Canada. The study even suggested that no energy path should be built in the Mackenzie Delta area.
However, the study found less environmental risk further south in the Mackenzie Valley. Berger suggested that special protected areas should be created there. These areas would protect threatened and endangered species. This included the Porcupine caribou, white whales, several bird species, and other animals living in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Impact on Money and Jobs
The study found that the pipelines would not bring many long-term money benefits. The report said that big projects based on non-renewable energy usually don't create many lasting jobs. Locals who did find work during construction would likely only get low-skill, low-paying jobs.
Berger also worried that building the pipeline would harm the local economies. Many people in the area relied on hunting, fishing, and trapping. The pipeline could make it harder for them to do these activities, possibly leading to more money problems. In the end, Berger found that the region's economy would not be hurt by not building the pipeline.
Impact on People and Culture
The study believed that the pipeline plan had not taken Indigenous cultures seriously. It said that any development needed to fit with what the local people wanted. Berger predicted that the "social consequences of the pipeline will not only be serious—they will be devastating."
The study was especially concerned about the role of Indigenous people in any development plans. When the report came out, there were ongoing talks about Indigenous land claims in the area. Berger suggested that pipeline construction should wait until these land claims were settled.
The study found that local people would not accept development without some control from Indigenous communities. Also, land claims were part of bigger issues about Indigenous rights that needed to be settled between the government and the First Nations. Berger felt that fast development in the North would stop these important issues from being settled. This was because many non-Indigenous people and businesses would move into the area.
Recommendations
Justice Berger suggested a ten-year delay, called a moratorium. This delay would allow time to deal with important issues. These issues included settling Indigenous land claims and setting aside key conservation areas. Only after these were done should anyone try to build the proposed pipeline.
Years later, in 1999, Indigenous leaders from across the Northwest Territories started a second attempt to build a gas pipeline down the Mackenzie Valley. This project is also known as the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline.
See also
