|
Mackenzie Valley Pipeline, proposed PIPELINE for the transport of natural gas and later oil from the Arctic Ocean to Alberta. The proposal of a pipeline corridor from the NORTH was put forward by the federal government in the 1970 Pipeline Guidelines and provoked a spate of engineering and environmental studies, public-policy reviews and economic analyses unequalled in Canadian history.
Detailed proposals were promulgated by 2 consortiums. Canadian Arctic Gas Pipeline Ltd, composed of 27 Canadian and American producers (including Exxon, Gulf, Shell and TRANSCANADA PIPELINES), proposed a route from the Prudhoe fields in Alaska, across the northern Yukon to the Mackenzie Delta and then south to Alberta. Foothills Pipe Lines Ltd, formed by Alberta Gas Trunk Line [NOVA] and Westcoast Transmission, proposed a shorter route from the Mackenzie Delta to Alberta. The Arctic Gas pipeline would have been the longest in the world (3860 km) and the greatest construction enterprise ever undertaken. In either case, the engineering problems of building a pipeline over PERMAFROST were monumental (both proposals entailed refrigerating the gas) and the impact on the North would have been significant. A federal royal commission, led by Judge Thomas BERGER, was appointed in March 1974 to consider the proposals and their social and economic impact on the North. The commissioners held community hearings across the North, beginning in 1975 and ending November 1976, dealing with the concerns of native people and environmentalists. The commission's report, issued April 1977, concluded that a pipeline from the Mackenzie Delta down the Mackenzie Valley to Alberta was feasible, but should proceed only after further study and after settlement of native LAND CLAIMS; it recommended, successfully, a 10-year moratorium. However, the commission was adamantly opposed to the building of a line across the delicate environment of the northern Yukon. Amid controversy and uncertain economic conditions, both plans were shelved. The commission itself became a cause célèbre because of its broad interpretation of its mandate and its illumination of the complex problems facing northern development.
Author
JAMES MARSH
Suggested Reading
Minister of Supply and Services, Northern Frontier, Northern Homeland, Report of the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry 1 (1977); P.H. Pearse, The Mackenzie Pipeline (1974).
Links to Other Sites
The Mackenzie River Basin Board
This website features an extensive collection of exceptional maps that depict the geology, geography, and ecology of the Mackenzie River Basin region.
Canadian Energy Pipeline Association
An informative website about Canada's petroleum industry. Find out how oil and gas flow through pipelines. Also features maps of pipeline systems in Canada and other data.
Energy Council of Canada
The website for the Energy Council of Canada.
Gas pipeline given thumbs-up
A news story about the Mackenzie Gas Project pipeline from thestar.com.
|
|
|
|
 |
|
| David Thompson was an outsider, struggling to find a foothold in the empire that had consumed his country... |
|
| Pierre Elliott Trudeau, politician, writer, constitutional lawyer, prime minister of Canada 1968-79 and 1980-84 (b at ... |
|
|
| Few countries were affected as severely as Canada by the worldwide Depression of the 1930s. It is estimated that ... |
|
|
| Louis Riel, Métis leader, founder of Manitoba, central figure in the NORTH-WEST REBELLION (b at Red River ... |
|
|
| Few countries were affected as severely as Canada by the worldwide Depression of the 1930s. It is estimated that ... |
|
|
| Evangelical Christian Church, often called the Christian Church (Christian Disciples), is a denomination stemming from ... |
|
|
| The Group of Seven was founded in 1920 as an organization of self-proclaimed modern artists. The original members - ... |
|
|
| Sears Canada Inc, headquartered in Toronto, is a Canadian retailer incorporated in 1952. In 1953 operating under the ... |
|
|
| John Ware, "Nigger John," horseman, rancher (b near Georgetown, SC 1845; d near Brooks, Alta 11 Sept 1905). ... |
|
|
| Land claims are dealt with by a process established by the federal government to enable INDIANS, INUIT and ... |
|
Browse the rich visual resources of The Canadian Encyclopedia through thematic galleries of Canadian Art, History, Nature, People, and Science and Technology.
Illustrations, lively text, animations, sounds and games help make learning about Canadian history, art, geography, architecture and other topics entertaining as well as informative.
The ultimate test of your knowledge of Canada, trivial and otherwise. You can choose from more than 60 dynamic quizzes with visual or text clues. Your scores depend on the speed with which you answer and the number of clues you need. Results are sent to you by email and high scores are posted on the site.
This unique resource includes more than 6000 events from Canadian and world history. It can be searched by era, subject, keyword or date. To find out what happened on your birthday, select the month and day of your birth.
This selection of the 100 "greatest" events in Canadian history was made by editor in chief James H. Marsh to draw attention to events that have left an indelible memory in the minds of later generations.
| THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MUSIC IN CANADA |
|
| European Observers of Indian DancingDancing, pre-Confederation. A history of social dancing in Canada had not been written by 1990, although some research was work appeared in the 1980s. As much research into folksong as had been ... |
|
|
