RANDY HENDERSON, HOST, "TRAIL BREAKER", CBC RADIO: Tomorrow on the Trail Breaker, we'll be spending all of our second hour on a phone-in about the Mackenzie Valley pipeline. We're asking the question, "Do we need a pipeline down the valley," and we'll be taking calls from our listeners. The question comes as Imperial Oil approaches its own deadline for deciding whether the project is ready for public hearings. The company told regulators it will make that decision in November. To give us the latest, as we head into this critical period, I'm joined by our resources reporter Julie Green. Good morning, Julie.

JULIE GREEN, REPORTER, CBC RADIO: Good morning, Randy.

CBC: Julie, what kind of problems does Imperial Oil want to solve before making this decision?

GREEN: Well, Randy, you'll remember back in April when Imperial Oil put the brakes on this project, they said they had a number of problems. Just to recap, one was uncertainty about how long it would take to get the project through the environmental assessment process and get the permits they needed; another was what the company described as the unreasonable demands of aboriginal organizations of the project; and the third one was reaching some kind of an agreement with the federal government about what kind of taxes they would pay, and royalties they would pay, over the life of the project.

CBC: So how much progress has been made dealing with these issues?

GREEN: On the regulatory front, there has been some progress. Key to all of this, Randy, is the settlement of the Dehcho lawsuit back in July. Although the Dene Tha suit, the northern Alberta group, which is about representation on the panel reviewing the project, is still outstanding, but the major issue there, arguably, is settled. The Joint Review Panel itself has issued a schedule of hearings which tells people where hearings will be held and what topics will be discussed, so there's some certainty there. Meanwhile, the federal government has announced there's almost $1.7 million available for people who want to hire experts or travel to the hearings. So there's more certainty about the process of the environmental assessment for the project. I haven't heard about any changes at the land and water boards who would be issuing the permits that would improve the certainty there, but, I mean, they're there issuing permits every day of the week, so that's in place.

CBC: So that's the regulatory process, Julia. How are negotiations going with aboriginal organizations?

GREEN: Well they initially bogged down over the issue of socio-economic questions. Imperial Oil said that aboriginal organizations were asking them to pay for services which they felt the government should pay for. For things like housing, school assistance, treatment centres, and so on. They felt that they shouldn't be on the table at all. So in July, the federal government stepped in with a $500 million fund for the aboriginal organizations in the valley to take care of those socio-economic needs. So they were supposed to take that issue right off the table. Then early in August, Imperial Oil met with the aboriginal groups to present its standard agreement for access and benefits for pipeline construction. The aboriginal groups met in September; they went over that agreement to see if they could come up with a common position. What they have is a major expectation still, at this point, is that they're going to earn money each year on this project. They don't want a one-time payment for land access; they want annual payments for land access. Now Imperial Oil has started negotiations with the Inuvialuit and with the Gwich'in, or restarted negotiations with them that were suspended in the spring. They've started again. And they're meeting with K'asho Got'ine in Fort Good Hope this week, and with the Dehcho next week. The order and timing of these meetings troubles Chief Kenya Norwegian, who heads the group negotiating on behalf of the Dehcho.

KEYNA NORWEGIAN, CHIEF, LIIDLI KUE FIRST NATION: We never even come close to coming to some kind of reasonable, or adequate, access and benefits negotiations. And if they're going to come back to us and say they've already set a date for our next meeting, for November the 7th, and if they expect us to come to some kind of conclusion or agreement by that date, and then they make a decision whether or not to go to hearings, they're making a big mistake on not giving themselves enough time to do some meaningful negotiations with us on access and benefits.

GREEN: So Chief Kenya Norwegian isn't buckling under this pressure. She's pointing out that this November deadline is one that Imperial Oil has set for itself. They schedule the negotiations, and have they given themselves enough time? Well, honestly, it doesn't sound like it. But there are other negotiations going on, as well.

CBC: Right, like those between Ottawa and Imperial Oil about concessions. What stage are they at?

GREEN: Well the Deputy Prime Minister said last week that the federal government had met with Imperial Oil. She didn't say what was on the table. But there's plenty of speculation, as you've heard yourself, Randy: billions of dollars worth of subsidies, breaks on taxes and royalties, the possibility that came up last week about Ottawa actually owning a share of the project. So listen carefully here to Anne McLellan answering a question last week about what the federal government is prepared to offer Imperial Oil.

ANNE MCLELLAN, DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER OF CANADA: We have talked to Imperial because they came to us with the discussion around fiscal enhancements. In fact, fiscal enhancements, they're a long, long, lengthy listen of things that could or could not be done. 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.

GREEN: Notice what she didn't say. She didn't deny that Ottawa would buy a portion of the pipeline, or offer subsidies, or whatever. It seems that these ideas may be trial blue (?) she's testing to see what the public will, and won't, accept.

CBC: So where is the territorial government in all of this?

GREEN: Well they're on the sidelines, to some extent, because they're not part of the negotiations that I've just described. Yet, Premier Joe Handley and the Industry Minister have been tireless promoters of this project. Unlike the aboriginal organizations, the territorial government has decided not to use this project as leverage to resolve long-standing issues such as devolution and resource revenue sharing. Here's Brendan Bell speaking in the Legislature last week.

BRENDAN BELL, NWT INDUSTRY MINISTER: Of course, we're not officially at the table in these discussions between the federal government and Imperial. We probably should be. I would suggest that if there are issues being discussed of this nature, we may very well be supportive, and I think we are. But we need to know what it will mean for residents of the NWT.

GREEN: And in a lot of ways, Randy, you and I, and the rest of our listeners, and the territory, are in the same position as Brendan Bell: standing outside of this process, a process that will have a huge impact on our lives in the Northwest Territories, waiting for the main players to decide our future. And that decision will be made this month.

CBC: Alright. Thanks for this, Julie.

GREEN: You're welcome.

CBC: Julie Green is our resources reporter. And, as we mentioned, tomorrow on the Trail Breaker, we'll be opening up our phone lines to hear what you think about the proposed pipeline. The question we're asking is: "Do we need a pipeline down the Mackenzie Valley?" That's tomorrow on the show from 7:00 until 8:00 a.m.

CBC Special Report