OTTAWA, Aug. 22 - The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (the Agency) and the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board have awarded $160,000 to seven applicants in support of their participation in the environmental assessment process by Joint Review Panel (JRP) for the proposed Mackenzie Gas Project.

The recipients are Nature Canada, the World Wildlife Fund, the Sierra Club of Canada, the North Slave Métis Alliance, Alternatives North, Ecology North and the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society.

A Participant Funding Review Committee, independent of the JRP, the proponents and the interested parties, reviewed the requests and provided recommendations on available funding. The Committee's report and addendum along with further information on the project are available on the Agency's Web site at www.ceaa-acee.gc.ca .

The Government of Canada has made available a total of more than $2.3 million in participant funding to support public participation in the Joint Review Panel process for the proposed Mackenzie Gas Project. The awarding of the final portion of phase 3 funding marks the conclusion of the Participant Funding Program for this project.

The next hearings on the cumulative impacts of the proposed project will start on August 27, 2007, and subsequent hearings on various topics are scheduled to take place until November 30, 2007. The schedule of these hearings as well as information on the review of the proposed Mackenzie Gas Project is available on the Northern Gas Project Secretariat's Web site at www.ngps.nt.ca .

The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency administers the federal environmental assessment process, which identifies the environmental effects of proposed projects and measures to address those effects, in support of sustainable development.

For more information on the Participant Funding Program, contact:

Suzanne Osborne
Participant Funding Program
Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency
Tel.: 613-957-0254 (collect calls are accepted)
Fax: 613-948-9172



For further information: Media: Nicholas Girard, Senior Communications Advisor, Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, (613) 957-0958,