Motion targets pipeline answers
Coastal First Nations is requesting some of the testimony provided by Northern Gateway president John Carruthers be excluded from the National Energy Board Joint Review Panel's records.
In a motion filed with the panel last week, the First Nations group contends that while answering questions posed by B.C. Nature, Nature Canada and the provincial government, Carruthers tried to bring up new federal government shipping regulations which had previously been declared off limits.
Panel chairwoman Sheila Leggett ruled that evidence filed by the federal government on March 18 relating to planned shipping safety improvements along B.C.'s coast was not permissible because it didn't follow proper procedure.
"The documents filed appeared to be released publicly and made generally available by the Government of Canada," Leggett said in her ruling. "The panel will only consider evidence that is properly filed on the record. Documents should not be filed on the public registry unless they are evidence filed in accordance with the hearing order."
Northern Gateway is seeking to build a heavy oil pipeline from Alberta's oilsands to Kitimit and a terminal for export. The National Energy Board is reviewing the $6.5 billion project's eenvironmental assessment and will report to the federal cabinet by the end of the year.
In its filing, Coastal First Nations points to four sections in the transcript where Carruthers refers to the federal government's new commitments, all of which occurred after Leggett gave her ruling.
At one point during the proceedings B.C. Nature/Nature Canada lawyer Chris Tollefson interrupted Carruthers and tried to seek clarity on whether the answer was permissible, but Leggett didn't rule at that time.
Northern Gateway has yet to reply to the motion by Coastal First Nations.
The panel is not in session this week as part of its Easter break. It's scheduled to resume on April 4.
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