On January 30th, 2008, the Northern Oil and Gas Branch, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada and the Oceans Directorate, Department of Fisheries and Oceans hosted a one-day workshop in Ottawa towards aligning federal initiatives in the Beaufort Sea-Mackenzie Delta of Canada's Western Arctic.
The Beaufort Sea is seeing strong investment from major oil companies as an area of significance in their global exploration portfolio and the onshore part of the basin - the Mackenzie Delta - is the focus of continuing exploration and potential development. Economic activity in this region of Canada's Arctic is a clear affirmation of Canada's sovereignty.
As a first step, federal departments with an ongoing interest and/or involvement in resource management initiatives in the Western Arctic were invited to participate. These initiatives include the Mackenzie Gas Project, Protected Area Strategy planning, Oceans Act Implementation activities for the Beaufort Sea Large Ocean Management Area, Cumulative Environmental Affects Monitoring, the Beaufort Sea Strategic Regional Plan of Action, proposed legislative amendments to the Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act, International Polar Year, the Environmental Sciences Research Fund, Departmental science programs and so on. Many of these initiatives, if not all of them, engage other northern partner, including Aboriginal communities, territorial governments and industry.
The objectives of the Beaufort Basin workshop were provisionally identified as follows:
- Inform Government of Canada departments and central agencies of current federal, territorial and industry initiatives, their objectives, status and desired / anticipated outcomes
- Determine what is required to realize these outcomes over an extended planning window, and identify/confirm vehicles to advance these objectives
Given the prospects of economic development in the Beaufort Basin, whether driven by the Mackenzie Gas Project itself or by offshore oil and gas exploration unrelated to the MGP, there is a current opportunity to ensure that Government of Canada interests are aligned and supportive of sustainable development in the region. This federal workshop was a prelude to subsequent meetings and workshops with the Inuvialuit, Territorial Governments and Industry.
Related links with information pertaining to the Beaufort Basin workshop:
