Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline hearings

The National Energy Board (NEB) has announced that they will be extending the timeline for Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline hearings. This new timeline will put the regular hearing process on hold for three months while Trans Mountain files supplementary information on its new pipeline corridor through the City of Burnaby. The three-month extension would have put the NEB’s final deadline to submit its recommendations to the Federal Cabinet right in the middle of next October’s Federal election. However, the timeline has been further extended by an added four months, pushing the decision until January 2016.

Extending the timeline for the Trans Mountain Hearing Process was debated earlier this year, when a motion was put forward requesting that the NEB include oral cross-examination as part of the Hearing Process. This new extended timeline now offers a perfect opportunity to do just that.

Oral cross-examination was crucial to uncovering gaps in Enbridge’s evidence during the NEB hearings on the Northern Gateway Pipeline. However, back in April it was discovered that the Trans Mountain pipeline hearings would not include any oral cross-examination and would only offer intervenors two written opportunities to directly ask Trans Mountain for information about its evidence. The NEB stood by their decision by rejecting the motion to re-introduce cross-examination on the grounds that they had to meet a legislated timeline for reviewing this project.

Given that an extension has now been granted so that new evidence can be brought forward, it is my hope that the board will reconsider its decision on oral cross-examination. There is no replacement for questioning Trans Mountain’s evidence in person, particularly in light of the inadequate written responses that Kinder Morgan has been providing to intervenors. Just a couple of weeks ago I filed a motion requesting the NEB to compel Trans Mountain to provide full and adequate responses to the nearly 500 questions I submitted on their application. Kinder Morgan replied to my concerns much the same way they had the first time around; by avoiding answering many of the questions. To me, this lack of substantive response shows a complete disregard for the essential role that intervenors play in the hearing process.

I am not alone in having this concern. The Province of British Columbia, the City of Burnaby, the City of Vancouver and many other intervenors have voiced similar concerns.

British Columbians want a full and transparent review of all of the facts, and this can only be achieved by re-introducing oral cross-examination into the hearing process. If the NEB is willing to extend the timeline so new information can be introduced by Trans Mountain, I would hope they would consider using the extended timeline so that something as essential as oral cross-examination could be introduced to test the company’s evidence.

If you would like to keep up to date with the latest Kinder Morgan news, or if you want to learn more about the pipeline proposal and hearing process, please visit the ‘Kinder Morgan Hearing Process’ portal on my website.

Have a wonderful summer,

Andrew Weaver

MLA Oak Bay-Gordon Head