GATT-Fly Submission to the Alaska Highway Pipeline Inquiry

Publisher:  GATT-Fly, Canada
Year Published:  1977  
Pages:  8pp  
Resource Type:  Article
Cx Number:  CX428

In this submission to the Pipelines Inquiry, GATT-Fly begins by arguing that, in general, huge resource projects seldom contribute to the well-being of the majority of the population where the development is being carried out. The brief cites as an example the recent petroleum exploration and pipeline construction in Peru.

Abstract:  In this submission to the Pipelines Inquiry, GATT-Fly begins by arguing that, in general, huge resource projects seldom contribute to the well-being of the majority of the population where the development is being carried out. The brief cites as an example the recent petroleum exploration and pipeline construction in Peru. First of all, the massive economic development associated with the pipeline disrupted the traditional lifestyle of the indigenous people in the Amazon Basin and left many of them homeless and unemployed in the end. When the project collapsed in 1974, the Peruvian goverment discovered that the original projected costs had more than doubled and that foreign loans were needed. The pipeline disaster led to a wider financial crisis in 1976; Peru's growing foreign debt has had a crippling social and economical effect upon the whole population.

GATT-Fly does not argue that the Canadian and Peruvian situations are precisely similar, however, it does encourage the inquiry to look at the actual state of Canada's econony and to measure the possible dangers of a pipeline for all Canadians. The brief claims that Canada is tending more toward dependence on foreign capital, much of which gets tied up in energy projects. The effects of foreign indebtness are clearly apparent in Canada: wage controls (AIB), currency devaluation, and social service cutbacks. The pipeline construction could easily push Canada's debts higher. In case of cost overruns for the pipeline, the Canadian government would be forced to directly intervene to save the project. Other costs of pipeline construction include environmental damage as well as diversion of investement away from othe socially useful projects. The submission concluded by proposing that there be more public input from Southern Canadians on the pipeline decision and that the land claim of the native people of the Yukon be settled and implemented.