Friends of Wild Salmon Pipeline and Tanker Blog

JRP Final Technical Hearing Summary: Edmonton, Day 13

Leanne Chahley for the Alberta Federation of Labour continued questioning of the “shipper panel” – Cenovus, Nexen, Suncor, Total & MEG. Asking if their companies had identified where their condensate would come from, they all said there is no need to line it up this far in advance. It is the same answer for oil – more typical to arrange sales weeks and months ahead, not years.

Carol Hales representing the National Energy Board asked a multitude of questions about the sequence of events from the initial contact between Enbridge and potential shippers to the signing of precedent agreements. Who was present? (Mostly one-on-one.) Was Enbridge open to more or fewer than 10 units for funding participants? (No, though it facilitated discussion with other interested parties if someone wanted to sell part of their unit.)

“The Coalition” of Forest Ethics Advocacy, Raincoast Conservation Foundation, and Living Oceans Society put up a witness panel David Hughes, an energy analyst, and Nathan Lemphers from the Pembina Foundation. Both witnesses had their credentials questioned, and neither was accorded full expert recognition.

Questioning from Northern Gateway, CAPP, and Cenovus et al was not friendly.

For example, Richard Neufeld for Northern Gateway characterized some of Mr. Hughes charts based on CAPP data, as appearing “to attribute things to CAPP” that CAPP did not say.

Later, in questions about a campaign to impede oil sands development in which Pembina Institute and Forest Ethics are both involved, Mr. Neufeld seized on some strategic activities that are part of that campaign, including mobilizing the public in the Northern Gateway hearing. “Mob the Mic”, Mr. Neufeld called it, before he was called on it by Barry Robinson, the Coalition’s lawyer.

Referring to the large numbers of people concerned about the project, Mr. Neufeld asked Mr. Lemphers, “So the campaign has been quite successful, from your perspective?”

Mr. Lemphers replied, “It's a fairly basic story. I think people can make up their own minds.”

David Coles, the President of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union strongly championed his union’s view that bitumen exports should be curtailed in favour of domestic jobs and that Canada needs a national energy strategy.

The Government of Alberta panel sat for only a few questions before the day ended.

For a more detailed summary, please see the following document: