Hello all,

Ed Weick wrote:
"About thirty years ago, I was a member of a team of
environmental and social science specialists assembled to
study the impact of a major pipeline that was being proposed
for northern Canada.... At the end of the inquiry, we had
assembled a substantial chunk of the northern Canadian Gaia,
enough to understand the dominant issues and troublespots,
though by no means all of it.  For those of us who had
written the original report, it was an exercise in humility,
but a gratifying one."

You should know that Ed speaks with typical Canadian modesty
when, in fact, he is referring to his participation (and
pre-participation) in the Royal Commission of Inquiry into
the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline chaired by Judge Thomas
Berger.  This was a remarkable event in Canadian, nay, in
modern human history. --->

"It�s been 25 years since Thomas Berger first came north to
talk to the people here.  There were plans to build a
pipeline down the Mackenzie Valley... and the government
wanted to find out what people thought. Rather than
rubberstamp the project, Berger�s commission and report was
a watershed event that changed the north forever.

"That�s because Berger�s visit galvanized northerners into
action. Organizers visited every home in every community,
encouraging people to come out to the hearings, to talk or
to listen. Political organizations and their leaders sprang
up overnight, or blossomed into maturity at the hearings.
And the message they gave Berger was clear... this was their
land, and their lives, their culture, and their livelihoods
would be devastated by the development.

"25 years after his ground-breaking report was released, CBC
Radio and Television are marking the event with
retrospectives -- from Berger himself, and the people who
spoke to him. Click on the links button above to see and
hear stories on the anniversary of the North�s coming of
age."

Go to:
http://north.cbc.ca/north/archive/berger25/

For an "update" see:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/features/mackenzievalley_pipeline.html

I couldn't find an on-line version of Berger's Report
("Northern Frontier, Northern Homeland"), but excerpts and
some submissions seem to be available.  (Ed may know.)

In addition to the CBC sites above, search these on yer
fav'rit enjine:
Northern Frontier Northern Homeland
Berger Inquiry
Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry

Ed, you are one of the immortals!

best wishes,

Stephen Straker
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Vancouver, BC




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