Northern Gateway hearings in Alberta cancelled after failing to draw participants
CALGARY — As British Columbians continue to turn up by the busload at public hearings to admonish Enbridge Inc. and its $6-billion Northern Gateway pipeline plan, sessions in Alberta have been cancelled because of an insufficient number of participants.
The National Energy Board has decided not to hold a session of the Joint Review Panel in Calgary, set for Wednesday, after failing to schedule a minimum of 15 participants. Another session that was to be held in Edmonton two weeks ago was called off because no one came forward.
Albertans were never expected to account for a significant proportion of the more than 4,000 people who have registered to comment on the Calgary-based company’s plans to ship oil sands bitumen to the Pacific coast. Fewer than 50 people had originally registered to speak at one of the two Alberta hearings, according to an NEB spokesperson.
Yet as a potential constitutional crisis looms in the wake of B.C. Premier Christy Clark’s demand for a “fair share” of the tax revenue Alberta is expecting to generate from Northern Gateway, pipeline proponents have been largely silent on the issue compared with the more vocal opponents.
“All hearings of this type have evolved so that they are sometimes very ‘us’ versus ‘them’, very ‘good’ versus ‘bad’ and confrontational,” Joseph Doucet, dean of the University of Alberta’s School of Business, said from his Edmonton office. “That is likely very attractive to opponents, but probably not attractive for proponents.”
Fear is preventing many who support Northern Gateway from being more vocal, said Enbridge spokesperson Paul Stanway.
“We’ve been told by a number of people they wish us well privately, but they don’t want to appear in public; they find it very intimidating, the idea of standing up in a small community and expressing support for something that is controversial,” he said.
Industry groups such as the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association and the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers have long been among the projects most ardent supporters. Neither group, however, had planned to voice its support in front of the joint review panel.
Major oil sands producers such as Suncor Energy Inc., Cenovus Energy Inc. and Nexen Inc. filed documents with the Joint Review Panel in January outlining their support for Northern Gateway, but have said little publicly.
Nick Schultz, vice-president of pipeline regulation at CAPP, said the organization plans to support Enbridge when the company formally presents its case to regulators in September, but that these hearings are more for private citizens than industry players.
There is a very vocal minority that tends to show up for these hearings, he said, while “the rest of the population expects the regulator to just do their job.
“It’s just the Canadian way, all the people from one side get mobilized and come out and pound the table so as a result there must be somebody on the other side trying to mobilize people to get them to come out and say it is a good thing,” Mr. Schultz said. “But you look at how things are done in this country and you don’t see that happening very often.”
Average Albertans likely support the pipeline because of the jobs it will bring into the province, said Kathryn Harrison, an environmental policy professor at the University of British Columbia. “But most of those people already have jobs,” she said, referring to Alberta’s ongoing labour shortage.
Albertans are also used to dealing with pipeline issues, Prof. Harrison said, while British Columbians have far less experience with such projects and must grapple with unique risks.
“Albertans don’t have to worry about tankers,” she said. “British Columbians do.”
Ms. Clark has made it clear her government is unwilling to let Northern Gateway move forward until B.C. is promised more of the $81-billion in provincial royalties and taxes the pipeline will generate over the next 30 years. Alberta Premier Alison Redford has countered the rules of confederation would have to be rewritten to comply with those demands.
Until that political stalemate is solved, Prof. Doucet argues those who favour Northern Gateway have even less of a reason to share their views with the rest of the nation.
“Bigger things have to be settled in terms of provincial relations before the voices of proponents are going to be heard,” he said.
Northern Gateway hearings in Alberta cancelled after failing to draw participants | Energy | News | Financial Post
