Liberals now need to move on structural changes to NEB
Ottawa, ON – The Council of Canadians welcomes news that the Energy East pipeline hearings have been adjourned and that the three National Energy Board (NEB) members heading them have recused themselves. The Council further welcomes the news that the chair and vice-chair of the NEB have recused themselves from naming new panel members because of their presence at the meeting with former Quebec Premier and TransCanada lobbyist Jean Charest.
“These recusals are a step in the right direction, but they do not fix the NEB’s structural problems,” said Daniel Cayley-Daoust, Energy and Climate Campaigner with the Council of Canadians. “The ball is in the Liberals’ court now. They can’t expect people whose livelihoods are at risk from the Energy East pipeline to trust a process that the Liberals themselves have admitted is structurally flawed and in need of reform.”
Over 2300 Council of Canadians supporters emailed the NEB asking board members Gauthier and Mercier to recuse themselves. They also asked the NEB to halt the Energy East hearings until reforms to the NEB and the environmental assessment process are completed, procedures are developed to respect the principle of free, prior and informed consent of Indigenous peoples, and a credible climate test is implemented that takes into account Canada’s carbon budget as well as upstream and downstream climate emissions.
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For more information, please contact:
Daniel Cayley-Daoust, Energy and Climate Campaigner, ddaoust@canadians.org, 819-593-4579
