New Brunswick’s Gallant government will be “keeping an eye on” the unfolding situation with the National Energy Board after the suspension of the review process into the Energy East project and the entire panel stepping down.
Premier Brian Gallant concedes that it was unexpected, and hopes that this won’t mean a setback.
“This is certainly something that will potentially give the impression that there’s a delay, we hope that there won’t be,” Gallant says. “We hope that the process will be able to continue with the timeline that the NEB had given itself.”
Hearings were held successfully in both Saint John and Fredericton but were halted when they moved to Montreal. There were calls for two of the members to be recused after they are reported to have met privately with former Quebec premier Jean Charest, who was then a consultant for TransCanada.
(NEB hearing into Energy East in Saint John)
Whether the NEB hearings into the Energy East project will have to start from scratch remains to be seen.
“Right now we just don’t know,” the NEB’s Sarah Kiley tells us. “It will be up to the new panel to look at the decisions that have been made and decide how they wish to proceed.”
According to Kiley, a new process is underway to get new board members appointed and once they come in they will appoint a new panel.
The Energy East pipeline would transport about 1.1-million barrels of oil on a daily basis from Alberta and Saskatchewan to refineries on the east coast. The construction of a marine terminal and a tank farm in Saint John, the project’s end point, is part of the plan. Premier Gallant is, once again, reaffirming his government’s support of the project.
“We believe that it would be a very good way to stimulate the economy here in New Brunswick and throughout the country, creating thousands of jobs,” says Gallant. “It would help increase GDP in New Brunswick and throughout the country. It would help ensure that we are able to transport oil in a safe manner.”
