Justin Trudeau’s ill-advised effort to ‘modernize’ the National Energy Board has all the makings of another pain-for-no gain exercise. The mountain of feedback received from Canadians reflects the anger and divisions of the pipeline debates and there is no consensus on how to reform it.
Indeed, some proposals to the panel charged with making recommendations would result in such an Ottawa power grab – for example moving the regulator’s headquarters to Ottawa from Calgary, or transferring many of the responsibilities of the now-independent regulator to the federal government – they are already stoking alarm and could mean more capital flight from Canadian energy if implemented.
“It is Imperial’s view that the NEB and its staff should be geographically located where it makes the most sense based on workload and the practicalities of hearings and the day-to-day logistics of regulatory oversight,” Imperial Oil Ltd. said in its written submission.
Claudia Cattaneo – Financial Post – April 5, 2017.
Want More Investigative Content?
