The deputy prime minister says Ottawa hasn't made a proposal to Imperial Oil to invest in the stalled Mackenzie gas pipeline project to get it back on track.

Anne McLellan denied a media report Thursday that the federal government has offered to buy 20 per cent of the $7 billion project in exchange for concessions the pipeline's backers are looking for.

The National Post newspaper says the proposal was made during a meeting in Edmonton two weeks ago.

"I've got to tell you, when I read that headline this morning, I was probably as surprised as everyone else," she says. "Absolutely no proposal has been made to Imperial in any form in relation to any fiscal enhancements."

McLellan says there's a long list of so-called enhancements on the table, but nothing has been decided.

"We have talked to Imperial because they came to us with the discussion of fiscal enhancements. In fact, fiscal enhancements… they're a long, long, lengthy list of things that could or could not be done," she says.

"It is way too soon to say whether this government will choose to take a serious look at a package that is defined as fiscal enhancements."

She says the federal government sees the Mackenzie Valley pipeline as a private-sector project.

She says Ottawa has shown its support for it by committing half-a-billion dollars to a socio-economic fund for communities in the valley.

McLellan says its now up aboriginal organizations and gas producers to come up with access agreements.

Imperial Oil has set itself a deadline of November to say whether it's ready to begin public hearings on the project.

The Mackenzie Valley Gas Project would tap natural gas in the Mackenzie Delta and move it 1,300 kilometres into Alberta. The gas will then be moved on to U.S. markets through existing pipelines.

CBC NEWS