A New Westminster resident is up in arms about a letter the National Energy Board sent out to participants of the Trans Mountain pipeline hearing.
Lesslie Askin, a registered NEB commenter, received a letter last month, outlining reasons the board could potentially remove a file from the online public registry of comments. Reasons given include offensive or threatening language and if documents are entirely out of scope.
But Askin takes issue with a bullet point that states the NEB could also remove comments under "other circumstances."
"That calls into question the entire process, because what they have effectively done is say, 'These are our general rules and we can take out anything we don't particularly care for,'" she told the Record in an interview.
"This letter gives them carte blanche to do so. You can't, on the one hand, say this is a public database available to everybody and then say we have the discretion to remove items from it. It's just not OK."
NEB spokesperson Sarah Kiley said the notice was meant to address a lot of questions her department has been receiving.
"The purpose of this letter is to make sure the evidence we have on record relates to the hearing. It's extremely rare we need to remove files from the registry," she added.
Kiley went on to say that among the hundreds of documents submitted so far, only a handful of files have been excluded, the most common reason being timing.
"For example, if someone files a letter of comment really early, we'll call them and let them know it's still early in the process and ask if they'd like to have more time," she said. "There have been a couple of instances where folks filed information but it was related to something the board has already ruled they won't be considering."
Kiley responded to Askin's carte blanche allegation by saying it's a false statement and that the NEB isn't prejudiced.
"Everyone is entitled to their letter. If you have the same information as 500 other people, your letter is still yours and we will consider it as your unique contribution."
But Askin isn't happy with that answer, calling it a "deflection."
"Given our prior history with the NEB, I believe there's no point having put out that notice unless they're worried about having already removed something without public consent," she said.
The Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project, estimated to cost $5.4 billion, would triple production capacity to 890,000 barrels a day.
Commenters have until July 23 to submit their documents, which will be used in the NEB's decision-making process. Oral hearings will then start in August, with recommendations to the federal government expected by January 2016. The feds will then take roughly three months to review it all.
Meanwhile, if Askin's letter is rejected for "arbitrary reasons," she plans to seek legal action.
The 71-year-old grandmother, who's one of 1,200 commenters in the Trans Mountain hearing, made headlines last summer when she was investigated as a terrorist threat.
Askin was taking photos of Kinder Morgan's storage tanks at the base of Burnaby Mountain for a hearing presentation. A few days later, she received a knock on the door from local Mounties.
