Keywords Oil & Gas Energy

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.