Columnists
|
|
Business Briefs Guy Quenneville Monday, September 8, 2008 Previous columns 
Northwest Passage could open to supertankers Discoveries of oil in the Beaufort Sea, like Devon Canada's discovery of a large pool of oil 130 km north of Inuvik two years ago, aren't as stranded as most would think according to Murray Todd, former president of Canadian Marine Drilling Ltd. Todd believes oil from new and existing finds could be transported from the Beaufort Sea through the Northwest Passage - which he said is more navigable than ever - to either Europe or the eastern United States using ice-breaking supertankers. Using tankers would be "absolutely cost-effective" when compared to the $16.2 billion cost of the proposed Mackenzie Valley natural gas pipeline, he added. But industry has been slow to accept the idea, said Todd. "Maybe they doubt we have the technology. Most Canadians don't respect the technology that's been developed to work in the Arctic." Chamber of commerce AGM The NWT Chamber of Commerce will host its annual general meeting on Sept. 17 in Yellowknife. The AGM will be split into two sections. A luncheon, business meeting, board elections and a strategic planning session will take place during the afternoon at the newly renovated Yellowknife Inn. The second portion will take place in the evening at the Explorer Hotel and will include a presentation by Neil McCrank, the federally-appointed author of Indian and Northern Affairs' Canada report on how to streamline the NWT regulatory system. McCrank will give a half-hour talk on his report and take questions from the floor, according to John Curran, the chamber's new executive director. Nunavut minimum wage tops Nunavut became home to the highest minimum wage amount in the country Friday. An increase of $1.50 last week leaves the minimum wage in territory to exactly $10 per hour. The second highest minimum wage, currently in place in Ontario, stands at $8.75 an hour. The increase comes on the heels of a report two weeks ago from Statistics Canada stating people in Iqaluit paid 2.5 per cent more this past July compared to the same month last year for goods and services included in the consumer price index.
|
