Public input capped at Vancouver, Victoria pipeline hearings
The upcoming National Energy Board hearings into the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline in Vancouver and Victoria will be a little less public than other sessions.
Citing "the large urban nature of Victoria and Vancouver and previous protests held in both
locations regarding the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway project" the Joint Review Panel announced Thursday it was restricting the general public from attending in person oral statements which will be presented in the two cities next month.
The panel is limiting access to those registered to speak and one guest per speaker as well as the media. The wider public will be able to listen to the oral statements either online or by going to a separate viewing location in a different building from the actual hearings.
"The panel is committed to a fair, transparent process and has established a viewing room for all others to attend and watch a live videocast of the hearing," the panel said in a statement posted on its website.
Oral statements allow anyone who has registered to speak for up to 10 minutes either in support of or opposed to the project. To date, the panel has allowed the public to attend its hearings, including the oral statements in Prince George this summer as well as the cross-examination that took place here in October and November.
The oral statements in Victoria will take place from Jan. 4-11 and in Vancouver from Jan. 14-18 and Jan. 30 to Feb. 1. There is also one day of oral hearings in Kelowna on Jan. 28, but the panel has ruled the general public can attend that session in person.