The National Energy Board will hold an oral hearing this month to address Kinder Morgan’s request to proceed with construction in Burnaby.
On Oct. 26, Kinder Morgan informed the NEB it was unable to secure permits related to the city’s zoning and tree-cutting bylaws. The company sought a “determination” from the national energy regulator on whether federal laws trump municipal laws.
Alberta, Saskatchewan and B.C. have applied to be interveners in the hearing and have until Nov. 24 to file written submissions. Then, on Nov. 29, a three-member panel will hear cross-examiniation on affidavits, with an oral summary argument from Trans Mountain, Burnaby and the provinces’ attorney generals in its Calgary hearing room on Dec. 4.
Greg McDade, a lawyer with the City of Burnaby, has told the NOW there isn’t a constitutional question. Getting municipal permits is part of the conditions the NEB and the Governor in Council attached to the project when it was approved, he wrote in a letter to the NEB’s Sheri Young on Oct. 31.
