Version française

By Elizabeth Kawenaa Montour

This article contains historical language and content that some may consider offensive, such as language used to refer to racial, ethnic, and cultural groups. Please see our historical language advisory for more information.

The Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry was enacted fifty years ago in 1974 by the Canadian Government. Library and Archives Canada (LAC) holds the original collection of the Inquiry records, which are managed by Government Archives Division.

This is the final blog of a three-part series on the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry (MVPI). This blog will focus on providing instructions on locating a selection of specific types of MVPI records through Collection Search.

Discovering MVPI digitized collection materials

The records of the MVPI were transferred to the Public Archives of Canada in February 1978. All MVPI records are open to the public for research purposes, though not all MVPI records are digitally accessible online.  A digitally accessible record will show the digitized image of the record above the Record Information Page when retrieved and opened through Collection Search. These records can be requested and accessed on-site at LAC.

Resources for records searches

The following information provides more specific guidance on searching for MVPI records.

The main sous-fonds is titled Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry (multiple media), or you may find it by using the search term “Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry” in Collection Search to find the result “Reference: R216-165-X-E, RG126. Date: 1970-1977”. Additional keywords for searches may include “Berger Commission” or “Berger Inquiry”.

The MVPI sous-fonds contains three main groups of series-level records, which are Transcripts of proceedings and testimony (digitized), Exhibits presented to the Inquiry (digitized) and Operational and administrative records (not digitized).

Each record may contain an electronic link to a related finding aid. This is found in the “Record information – Details section” and listed as “Finding aid: show detail”.

1 – Transcripts of proceedings and testimony – Reference: R216-3841-6-E, RG126

Please note: Shortcuts for locating both “formal hearings transcript” and “community hearings transcript” files using Collection Search are listed after section 3 – Operational and administrative records.

For formal hearings, reference “R216-172-7-E, RG126. Date: 1974-1976. Digitized”.

The sub-series includes 217 digitized transcript files, which are identified by number and location. The majority of the formal hearings were held in Yellowknife, with the remainder held in Inuvik (Northwest Territories), Whitehorse (Yukon) or Ottawa (Ontario).

Finding aid 126-5 is a verified file list of the formal hearing transcripts indicating transcript number, file title (the location), dates and permanent volume numbers.

For community hearings, reference “R216-169-7-E, RG126. Date 1975-1976. Digitized”.

The sub-series includes 77 digitized transcript files. Transcripts are identified by number and location. Community hearing transcript numbers are prefixed with the letter “C”.

Finding aid 126-8 is a verified file list of the community hearings transcripts including transcript number, file title (the location), parts, dates and permanent volume number.

Finding aid 126-3, from pages 111–120, is a list of Inquiry community witnesses and includes transcript numbers. In order to locate the Inquiry community transcript, preface the transcript number with the letter “C”. For example, to find text about “Antoine Abalon”, enter the search terms “Mackenzie C-18”. The result is Transcript Number C18 – Fort Good Hope, NWT. Scroll down list of names to Antoine Abalon, p. 1795.

2 – Exhibits presented to the Inquiry – Reference: R216-3840-4-E, RG126 Date: 1972-1977

Community hearings exhibits “R216-168-5-E, RG126 Date: 1975-1976” includes 700 digitized files. Exhibits are identified as “Submission” followed by a number with a “C”-prefix (e.g. Submission C585). The sub-series contains 627 digitized files, and 73 were not digitized due to the file folders being empty or for copyright reasons.

For Vancouver hearings exhibits, reference “R216-173-9-E, RG126 Date: 1976. Not digitized”. Records consist of exhibits from the Vancouver hearings of the MVPI held in May and June 1976. CV1-CV22 each denote a community exhibit with a description, person submitting and date. Hearings were also held in nine other centres in southern Canada (RG126, Vol. 9).

Formal hearings exhibits “R216-171-5-E, RG126 Date: 1975-1977” include 906 exhibits and are not digitized.

Additional MVPI records not included with the three main groups described above are listed below.

For photography, search for “Exhibits presented to the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry, Reference: RG126, R216, 1978-115 NPC Box 3929. Date 1974-1975”. The accession includes 165 black and white and 819 colour photographs. They are not digitized. The accession consists of photographs depicting the planning and execution of the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline that were submitted as exhibits to the Inquiry. Subjects include, but are not limited to, land conditions, terrain, wildlife, construction views, disturbances to the tundra, forests, geological formations, Ellesmere Island, caribou entangled in wire, Banks Island, seismic reports, muskox habitat and environmental hazards to the pipeline.

For maps, search for “Exhibits by special interest and northern community groups to the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry, Reference: RG126M 78903/14, 78903/14 CA. Date: 1972-1976”. The accession is not digitized. Accession consists of cartographic items which were presented by special interest and Northern community groups as exhibits to the MVPI. It includes technical details relating to the construction of the pipeline, environmental impact assessment maps and sets of land use maps. The accession also includes maps showing the pipeline corridors and the actual pipeline routes as proposed by Canadian Arctic Gas Pipeline Ltd. and Foothills Pipeline Ltd.

3 – Operational and administrative records Reference: R216-174-0-E, RG126 Vol. 72. Date: 1970-1977

The series includes textual recording, sound recording and moving images, and it is not digitized. The series consists of correspondence with the public, participants and staff members on all aspects of the Inquiry’s work; files on administrative arrangements regarding the Inquiry’s actual operations; Justice Thomas Berger’s memoranda to various parties; speeches delivered by Berger; French and English editions of the final reports; timetables of events; summaries of proceedings; indexes; posters and lists of documents. The series includes six lower-level descriptions: Committee for Original People’s Entitlement, Correspondence – General, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canadian Arctic Gas Pipelines LTD, Canadian Arctic Resources Committee – Northern Assessment Group and Canadian Arctic Resources Committee.

Navigating the records using shortcuts

The search methods suggested here are not examples of methods that are considered regular search terms, but irregular techniques based on how data was input into the system and created for researcher convenience.  They cannot be applied to other areas of the database.

Shortcuts to locate “community hearing transcripts”

To find a community transcript by location

If you know the location of the community hearing, enter the search terms “Mackenzie transcripts [location]” into Collection Search (archives filter) and note “transcripts” (must be plural). For example, “Mackenzie transcripts Aklavik”.

The results will include all the transcripts of the hearings in that location.

For example, the above search inquiry would yield the search results Transcript Number C40 – Aklavik, NWT, Transcript Number C3 – Aklavik, NWT and Transcript Number C1 – Aklavik, NWT.

To find a community transcript by date

Enter the search terms “transcript DD-MONTH-YYYY” into Collection Search (archives filter).

Note: the date must be entered in this order and the month must be spelled out. For example, “transcript 5 August 1975”.

The result you would find in this example is Fort Good Hope, NWT.

To find a date of a community hearing

Enter the search terms “community hearings transcript” into Collection Search (archives filter)

Go to “Record Information-Details”. Click and open “Finding aid”.

Finding Aid 126-8 is a verified file list of the community hearings transcripts including transcript number, file title [location], parts, date and permanent volume number.

To find a community transcript by transcript number

Enter the search terms “Mackenzie C-number” into Collection Search (archives filter). For example, “Mackenzie C-18” (with or without the hyphen).

The result you would find in this example is Transcript Number C18 – Fort Good Hope, NWT.

To find the sound recording of a particular community hearing

Enter the search terms “Date [YYYY-MM-DD] Mackenzie” into Collection Search (archives filter)

Note: the numeric date must be entered in this order.

The sound recording must be accessed on-site at LAC.

Shortcuts to locate “formal hearings transcripts”

To find a date of a formal hearing

Enter the search term “formal hearings transcript” into Collection Search (archives filter).

Go to “Record Information-Details”. Click and open “Finding aid”.

FA-126-5 is a verified file list of the formal hearings transcripts, including transcript number, file title [location], parts, dates and permanent volume numbers.

To find a formal hearing transcript by date

Enter the search terms “transcript DD MONTH YY” into Collection Search (archives filter).

Note: the date must be entered in this order and the month must be spelled out. For example, “transcript 8 April 1975”.

The result you would find in this example is Yellowknife, NWT.

To find a formal hearing transcript by transcript number

Enter the search terms “Transcript number” into Collection Search (archives filter). For example, “Transcript 35”

The result you would find in this example is Transcript Number 35 – Yellowknife, NWT.

Additional resources

• Fifty Years after the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry: Environmental Impacts in the Northwest (Part 1), by Elizabeth Kawenaa Montour, Library and Archives Canada Blog
• Fifty Years after the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry: Listening to Voices (Part 2), by Elizabeth Kawenaa Montour, Library and Archives Canada Blog

---

Elizabeth Kawenaa Montour is an archivist in the Government Archives Division of the Government Record Branch at Library and Archives Canada.

Version française

By Elizabeth Kawenaa Montour

This article contains historical language and content that some may consider offensive, such as language used to refer to racial, ethnic, and cultural groups. Please see our historical language advisory for more information.

The Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry (MVPI), also known as the Berger Inquiry, was enacted fifty years ago in 1974 by the Canadian Government. The purpose of the Inquiry was to investigate and report findings, which would be followed by appropriate actions. The final report (Volume One and Volume Two) was published in 1977. Library and Archives Canada (LAC) holds the original collection of the Inquiry records, and they are managed by Government Archives Division.

This is the first of a three-part series. Part one will revisit the events prior to the Inquiry and the areas the proposed project would impact. Part two will focus on people who were involved in the Inquiry, and part three will include specific details on how to search through the records of the MVPI.

The Mackenzie River is known as “Dehcho” (big river) by the Slavey (Dene), “Kuukpak” (great river) by the Inuvialuk and “Nagwichoonjik” (river flowing through a big country) by the Gwich’in (Dene). The colonial name of “Mackenzie” originated after the explorer Alexander Mackenzie visited the area in 1789.

The Mackenzie River winds through the Northwest Territories (NT), flowing northwest to the Mackenzie Delta. Just past the midway area of the river, immense limestone cliffs known as the Fee Yee (Ramparts) rise from the edge of the Mackenzie River. The river continues until it reaches the Mackenzie Bay at the Beaufort Sea in the Arctic Ocean. To the west of the river in NT and ending in the Yukon is the Mackenzie Mountain Range, a northern extension of the Rocky Mountains.

Treaty 11

The Dene had already given the name “Le Gohlini” (where the oil is) to Norman Wells, predating the arrival of colonial visitors. Tar was applied for waterproofing canoes and was made from small amounts of oil obtained from seepages. The sharing of their knowledge of the oil seepages resulted in Imperial Oil’s drilling program in 1919 and 1920. In 1920, oil was struck in the area of “Tutil’a” (“the place where the rivers meet” in Sahtu Dene; “Fort Norman” in English), and the construction of a small oil refinery followed. These events led to the signing of Treaty 11 in 1921 and 1922 by the Crown and representatives of the Dehcho, Tłı̨chǫ, Sahtu and Gwich’in peoples. The area covers 950 000 km² of present-day Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut. The Canadian Government’s interpretation of Treaty 11 secured title of these lands to the Crown, whereas the Dene saw the treaty as a peace and friendship agreement.

In 1968, a massive oil strike at Prudhoe Bay in Alaska moved energy investors to create proposals to move the oil and natural gas to southern United States and Canadian markets. The same year, the Task Force on Northern Oil Development was created, which resulted in the development of the federal government’s official northern pipeline guidelines, published in 1970 and expanded in 1972.

A pipeline proposal by Arctic Gas would have construction originating at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska on the Beaufort Sea to cross through the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Alberta and to include transportation of additional gas resources along the way to the United States.

As complex as the planning and construction of the infrastructure to support and build the pipeline was, the same complexity existed for the effects the pipeline would have on the environment, wildlife, and people of the land. The pipeline would also bring additional associated industrial development of an unknown scope. The result was that the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline was never built, although new projects would be proposed in its place.

Discovering the MVPI digitized collection materials

The records of the MVPI were transferred to the public archives of Canada in February 1978. All MVPI records are open to the public for research purposes, though not all records are digitally available. Additional keywords for searches may include “Berger Commission” or “Berger Inquiry”.

To become familiar with using Collection Search and to begin your MVPI records search, use the following links:

• Using Collection Search (canada.ca)

The MVPI collection includes the following digitized transcripts:

• Proceedings and testimony of
  • community hearings of 77 files of textual material dated 1975–1976.
    • Includes proceedings and testimony in 77 volumes (C1-C77)
  • formal hearings of 217 files of textual material dated 1975–1976.

• Exhibits presented to the Inquiry
  • Community hearing exhibits of 700 files of textual records dated from 1975–1976.
    • Each file is a submission with recorded exhibit number, date and author.

---

Elizabeth Kawenaa Montour is an archivist in the Government Archives Division of the Government Records Branch at Library and Archives Canada.