Call for Contributors: The Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry at 50

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“I have been guided by the conviction that this Inquiry must be fair and
it must be complete. We have got to do it right.”1
– Thomas Berger, 1975

The Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry, conducted from 1974 to 1976, marks a seminal period in postwar environmental, social, and political history in Canada. Established to investigate the impacts of a proposed natural gas pipeline through the Mackenzie Valley, the inquiry became a forum of debate on pressing social, economic, and political issues of the day. In the north, Dene, Inuit, Inuvialuit, and Métis peoples used the inquiry to voice their opposition to large-scale industrial development and to insist that the federal government recognize their rights to land and governance. Among southern audiences, the inquiry sparked widespread reflection on the interplay of energy consumption, environmental degradation, and Indigenous rights.

Fifty years have passed since the summer of 1975, when northern community hearings reached their peak. In some respects, the inquiry’s legacy is plainly apparent; its format, structured by Commissioner Thomas Berger to maximize Indigenous representation and elevate popular consciousness of Indigenous rights, has since been emulated by the Inquiry into Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, and numerous public inquiries, truth commissions, and environmental impact assessments worldwide. In other respects, the inquiry’s significance is less clear; the end of the pipeline debate did little to curb appetites for northern extraction, and the initial optimism at the prospect of land claim settlements has since been replaced with fatigue, frustration, and dissatisfaction.

NiCHE invites reflections on the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry at 50, its historical significance and legacy, and its continuing importance today. Topics may address issues related to

  • Indigenous rights and representation
  • environmental consciousness
  • northern political and economic development
  • geographical imaginaries
  • public debate and engagement
  • pedagogy and teaching the inquiry to students today
  • And other themes and topics.

Alternative formats such as interviews, podcasts, video, and photo essays are welcome. Please email pitches of 200 words in length to Mark Stoller (mark.stoller [@] queensu.ca) by February 28, 2025. Published articles will run through the late spring into the summer.

Notes

1 “Structure and Activities of the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry,” 04 November 1975, RBSC-ARC-1031-18 Box 19-5, Thomas Berger Fonds, University of British Columbia.

Feature image: Coating or taping machine used in laying pipeline during ditching operation for a 24″ pipeline construction job. Photograph presented as evidence to the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry by G. L. Williams, 21-22 April 1975. Library and Archives Canada. MIKAN 3238077.
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Mark Stoller

I am assistant professor in the Department of Geography & Planning at Queen’s University. My research focuses on Arctic Canada, with emphases on historical and political geography of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. Currently, I work with Inuit youth in Uqsuqtuuq/Gjoa Haven to document and share oral histories from the Nattilik region in central Nunavut.

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