Natural Resources committee  Thank you for having us.

Natural Resources committee  Energy East is in front of a panel right now, and so I can't make anything other than a generic comment that the board always looks at its most recent experiences in hearings and looks to improve the hearing process to make it both efficient and effective to allow people to appropriately engage and understand, to learn about the project, and to engage in the hearing if there is a possibility.

Natural Resources committee  It is true that provinces regulate activities around the upstream oil and gas, and the National Energy Board does not. I'm not sure of the fine jurisdictional alignment, as I'm not a lawyer.

Natural Resources committee  Yes. Or at least it can be done.

Natural Resources committee  Our understanding of the new measures is that they are intended to assist the Governor in Council or cabinet in making its ultimate decision. In a project like Trans Mountain the National Energy Board will make a recommendation report and talk about conditions. In that case, we recommended that the project was in the public interest.

Natural Resources committee  Under section 52 of the National Energy Board Act, which covers a major pipeline expansion, the board writes a recommendation report through its hearing process, and that recommendation report goes to the Governor in Council for approval. My understanding is that the interim measures are to add information to that approval process.

Natural Resources committee  Our understanding, or at least my understanding, is of work that actually goes on in a different area. I'm not an engineer and I don't have the technical capability to do the assessments myself, but what I'm told by our engineers is that accidents happen less often with pipelines than with other modes of transportation, so we think pipelines are the safest way, the least accident-prone way of transporting large volumes of oil and natural gas to markets.

Natural Resources committee  In dealing with the challenges faced by pipelines or the energy sector generally, innovation is one of the keys to a successful future. Innovation to make pipelines safer, make emergency response better, and to lower the environmental effects of the various kinds of activities in the oil and gas sector is absolutely essential.

Natural Resources committee  We do believe that renewing the public's faith in the environmental assessment process, but also in the life-cycle regulation—the regulation through the construction and operation period—is essential to what Canadians need and should be able to expect from their national energy regulator.

Natural Resources committee  The board has been undertaking project reviews since it began in the late 1950s, and since the 1970s it has been incorporating environmental issues into its project reviews. In 1995, when the first Canadian environmental Assessment Act came into place, we started doing environmental assessments under that act, and continue to do so.

Natural Resources committee  I am familiar with it, and for oil pipelines, the U.S. does not hold a public hearing. There isn't a public process. It's an internal, bureaucratic, administrative process they go through. That's the main difference.

Natural Resources committee  I'm not sure if we would have gotten all the way there. I can say that better consultation and more engagement of communities along the routes and other communities that are affected or concerned would have changed the dynamic that Canadians are feeling around pipelines and development in general.

Natural Resources committee  I will correct you there. The board's most recent appointee, Dr. Keith Chaulk, from Labrador, is an indigenous person. The board is trying a variety of different methods to appropriately engage with all the indigenous peoples and all Canadians who come and interact with either a board process or a facility that's regulated by the board.

Natural Resources committee  We can endeavour to provide you with some details on our aboriginal engagement strategy, in writing, after the meeting.

Natural Resources committee  The NEB's hearing process can take a variety of forms, as it does in different projects. There was not oral cross-examination during the Trans Mountain expansion hearing. There is in some other hearings, but that doesn't mean that the evidence that was put on the record was not tested; it's just tested in writing.