recommendations clearly indicates the governments were justified in their responses and the JRP travelled well beyond the scope of the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline project.  Many of the recommendations the GNWT turned down had the potential to nullify any bargaining power the government has in its dealing with aboriginal governments for future land claims and land use agreements. For those agreements to be fair the GNWT and First Nations must come to the table on relatively equal ground. During these negotiations the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline already provides many First Nations groups suitable leverage. To accept designated timeframes to negotiate agreements and agree to have them in place before pipeline construction commences would be irresponsible on the part of the GNWT.  The JRP also demonstrated brash audacity when it made recommendations in relation to the GNWT’s ongoing devolution negotiations and health care funding. Deciding how the GNWT will distribute devolution money and its health care priorities is the job of our elected officials and should be guided by the people of the Northwest Territories, not seven overpaid bureaucrats who spent years soaking up the rich honoraria paid to them.  Other recommendations relating to future developments, legislation in Alberta and one directing the Canadian government to guide the actions of an agency it has no control over were obviously beyond the JRP’s scope.  It’s time to move the pipeline project forward and determine once and for all its long-awaited fate. The National Energy Board must do a better and more efficient job than the Joint Review Panel did.