Introduction

Fish, nets, corporations and government. Although seemingly unrelated, the four entities have much in common. By instinct, corporations desire to roam the economic sea at will, free to pursue prey – minerals, oil and gas so as to maximize profits. Such “free-swimming” entails at least three dangers. Corporations may devour one another – the monopoly problem. Corporations may overexploit the flora and fauna–environmental and social values. Or corporations may themselves flounder because of outside predations such as inflation, high interest rates or trade restrictions. Government acts as a protective net, directing corporate movement into politically desired directions.

This chapter examines the Canadian decision-making net for controlling Northern development. Section II surveys the drifting floats, the convolutions in Northern policies. Section III discusses the administrative mesh, the threads of governmental bureaucracy operating in the North. Section IV reviews the legislative mesh, the threads of federal legislation and regulations controlling industrial development. Section V views the net in action by focusing on governmental reviews of ten major industrial proposals during the past decade – the Alaska Highway Gas Pipeline, Beaufort Sea hydrocarbon development, Norman Wells Oilfield expansion, the Arctic Pilot Project, Panarctic Arctic Islands exploration, Polaris Mine, Nanisivik Mine, North Davis Strait, South Davis Strait, and Lancaster Sound drilling. The role of Cabinet, while treated tangentially, and the role of Parliament are beyond the scope of the present paper.

No one study will ever capture all the intricacies of the decision-making net.