Plan for economic hard times, Delta leaders urge N.W.T. government
Business and political leaders in the Beaufort Delta region of the Northwest Territories say they're already feeling the effects of a global economic slowdown, particularly in oil and gas exploration.
With current financial-market turmoil drying up exploration money, and as delays continue to dog the proposed Mackenzie Valley natural gas pipeline, regional leaders like former chief Charlie Furlong of Aklavik, N.W.T., are urging the territorial government to come up with a backup plan in case the economic situation drives oil and gas companies out of the region.
"I think it is a crisis, and I think it's time that elected leaders of the Northwest Territories sat down and recognized that crisis," Furlong, currently an Aklavik council member, told CBC News.
Furlong said he does not want a repeat of the 1970s energy crisis, when many people in Inuvik, N.W.T., lost their jobs as the result of oil companies pulling out of the region.
"A lot of small businesses went under. Banks repossessed a lot of equipment," he recalled.
"People were used to making a high wage in employment. All of a sudden, [they] had to accept whatever they can and took a hard time to readjust to that."
Furlong said the Beaufort Delta's economy relies too much on the oil and gas exploration sectors, and the worldwide economic slowdown shows how vulnerable those industries can be.
More than 80% less exploration
In Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T., Mayor Mervin Gruben, who owns a company that works with exploration companies, said he already had to lay off 15 to 20 workers because of the economic slowdown.
"We've shut down our main camp. The Tuk base is totally shut down," Gruben said. "All we have open is the office and the shop. [We're] laying off a lot of people. Oh gosh, it goes on."
He added that he's seeing an 80-to-90 per cent decrease in oil and gas exploration work this year, compared with last year.
"For the most part, Tuk is going to be pretty quiet," he said.
"I think nobody wants to take the risk. It was risky to begin with. Everybody's sitting on the fence."
Both Gruben and Furlong said the territorial government should invest in infrastructure such as roads, in order to keep people working until the financial system recovers.