Public policy and hydroelectric development in the Canadian North : the case of the Snare Forks Project ...

• Main Author: Helfinger, B. Michael Bruno Michael
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2010
• Subjects: Great Slave Lake; North Arm; Northwest Territories; Yellowknife
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0095082; https://doi.library.ubc.ca/10.14288/1.0095082

This study of the Snare Forks hydroelectric development in the Northwest Territories has two basic objectives. The first is to provide a critical assessment of the institutional framework (both structural and procedural) within which resource planning decisions are taken in the Canadian North, with reference to the cirteria of 1) democratic accountability, and 2) technical and economic efficiency. The second objective is to suggest (if shortcomings in institutional design are found) means of upgrading structures and procedures to conform with the normative criteria. The Snare Forks (or Strutt Lake) hydroelectric development was first conceived during 1971, when the Northern Canada Power Commission (NCPC) began to consider construction of a third hydro dam on the Snare River, which flows into the north arm of Great Slave Lake, to meet the growing demands of the City of Yellowknife and adjacent mining operations, 130 kilometres to the southwest. A water use licence, required under the Northern Inland Waters ...