The National Energy Board’s Kinder Morgan hearing has wrapped up, but the federal government’s new review process for the pipeline is just beginning.
The NEB is set to deliver its final recommendation to Cabinet on the pipeline proposal by May 20. Cabinet has the final say on whether the pipeline will be built.
The feds are also planning to appoint a new ministerial representative to consult with communities along the pipeline. The NOW asked if that representative would come to Burnaby, and Natural Resources Canada didn’t answer but said the rep would should be appointed before the NEB’s final recommendation in May.
The federal government is also conducting an analysis of upstream greenhouse gas emissions for the Kinder Morgan pipeline proposal, and the results will be made public in May. The public will be able to comment on the analysis.
The Liberals also promised more consultation with First Nations, and according to Natural Resources Canada, that’s already underway, and the Tsleil-Waututh Nation will be consulted.
Burnaby South MP Kennedy Stewart said the measures are not changes and just a “smokescreen.”
“The National Energy Board process has not changed at all. It’s Stephen Harper’s process, and it’s Stephen Harper’s panel that’s making the decision,” said Stewart. “However they try to colour around the edges and say they are listening, and that the process has changed - it hasn’t. They would have to alter the National Energy Board Act through Parliament, and they haven’t.”
