The proposed northern railway is still stalled at the station waiting for Ottawa to send it chugging down the track.

A conference was held Thursday in Juneau involving representatives from Alaska, the Yukon and B.C. talking about a possible railway line.

The railway would connect Alaska with the continental United States by stretching down to connect with lines in British Columbia.

A number of politicians from each jurisdiction spoke during a press conference Thursday afternoon. They indicated the main thing holding back this project is still the Canadian government.

The U.S. government agreed to put up $6 million US over three years for a group of American citizens to take part in a commission which would conduct a feasibility study of possibly building a northern railway. Approval of the $6 million was one of the final acts of former president Bill Clinton in December 2000.

However, according to the conditions of the funding, it is to be a joint commission, with the Canadian government putting up the same number of members.

Since Clinton approved the funding, the feasibility study has been stuck at the station because the Canadian government has done nothing on the matter.

'Canada, to date, has decided not to respond,' Premier Dennis Fentie said during a press conference in Juneau at the meeting. The Yukon government fully supports Canada's participation in the commission.

'We are here because we not only believe in this project, we fully, unequivocally support this project,' Fentie said.

Yukon MP Larry Bagnell, who was also attending the meeting, said officials in Ottawa have had several concerns with the U.S. proposal for the commission and have chosen not to answer it.

Bagnell said officials in Ottawa have to be persuaded to agree with such a project. They won't be interested if they think the Canadian government will be on the hook for the cost of it, he added.

'We're not looking to government to build a railway,' said Southern Lakes MLA Patrick Rouble, who also spoke at the conference. He said they want government to study the feasibility of this rail line.

Fentie said the viability of this project has to first be studied.

'The prerequisite for the project is to conduct the feasibility study,' said the premier.

Fentie and Bagnell said they will push the Liberal government in Ottawa and the responsible ministers to get on board the joint commission.

According to the premier, the positive message that's come out of the meeting in Juneau can be used to apply pressure to Ottawa.

'We can certainly apply positive pressure to our federal government,' said Fentie.

With new Prime Minister Paul Martin in place, there is also a new federal minister of Transport, Tony Valeri.

Bagnell said he has already spoken briefly to Martin and Valeri about this project. He will give them a detailed information package soon.

Valeri's predecessor, David Collenette, was in favour of the railway.

When he spoke in Whitehorse last year, Collenette called the project 'bold, innovative'. However, the minister said it was getting held up because some people in Ottawa didn't see it as important or necessary.

Christine Van Loon of Valeri's office said the department that is taking the lead on responding to the U.S. overture to join the commission is the Department of Foreign Affairs.

While Transport has a new minister in Valeri, the name of the Foreign Affairs Minister, Bill Graham, is the same under Martin as it was under the old regime which did not respond to the U.S.

Graham's office did not respond to the Star's request for an interview today.

Since the U.S. government is willing to commit $6 million US for the project, Fentie said, Ottawa would have to put up about $8 million to $9 million.

'This isn't a large amount in the multibillion-dollar budget of Canada.'

Fentie said he will go to Ottawa at the end of January and try to get as many ministers as possible to agree with the Yukon on joining the commission.

'I think it should be easy enough to convince the Canadian government to get the feasibility done,' he said.

The premier said Ottawa could shut down the billion-dollar gun registry 'boondoggle' and use some of that cash to study the northern railway.

Alaska Governor Frank Murkowski, who has been one of the proponents of the railway since his days in the U.S. Senate, said yesterday the money is still available even though it was approved three years and one president ago.

Murkowski said the construction of a natural gas pipeline along the Alaska Highway is inevitable. He favours building the railway and the pipeline at the same time along the same corridor.

'Clearly, we, as neighbours, recognize the extraordinary opportunity (we have),' said Murkowski.

The governor said the wealth that would come from the north of Canada and the U.S. would justify such a railway. This project could also provide good jobs to keep northern youth at home instead of moving south to look for work, the governor said.

Also at the conference was Ed Schultz, the grand chief of the Council of Yukon First Nations.

The grand chief said his message to the meeting was clear: that a project of this size must include involvement from all aboriginal people who will be affected by the railway.

Involving aboriginal people is not only a moral and legal obligation, it makes good business sense, said Schultz.

He encouraged those people at the conference to talk to aboriginal leaders who could be strong allies in this kind of project.

Greg Halsey-Brandt, the minister of Intergovernmental Relations, represented B.C. along with a northern MLA from that province and the mayors of Dawson Creek and Prince George.

Halsey-Brandt said B.C. Rail recently reached an agreement with the privately-owned CN Rail. Halsey-Brandt said such a deal brings more capital and expertise to the provincial organization to work on railway projects.

The northern line would connect with one of the ends of the B.C. line.