The McLeod Institute has awarded Dr. Karim Aly-Kassam $17,850 for a study he and four Development Studies students undertook to assess the social impact of a railway link between Alaska, the Yukon Territory and Northern British Columbia. The scope and impact of the project is of the same magnitude as the MacKenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry, as the railway link affects up to 320 communities, many of which are Native.

Lesley Campbell, Tara Collins, Jeffery Halvorsen and Heath McLeod joined Dr. Kassam to study the region in summer, 2006. It was an opportunity for students to work on a project with major natural resource and strategic consequences for Canada. The outcome of the study is a recommendation to undergo meaningful consultation with indigenous communities for right of way as well as to interact with the private sector in outlining socio-economic consequences of development.

Other teams evaluating the environmental, engineering, and economic impacts were from major private sector firms in the United States and Canada. The invitation to conduct this study was extended to Dr. Kassam because of his expertise in indigenous human ecology.