The National Energy Board (NEB) has started three weeks of Oral Traditional Evidence (OTE) proceedings as part of the Trans Mountain Expansion Project Reconsideration hearing pertaining to project-related marine shipping.
The NEB has scheduled OTE sessions in three different cities, starting in Calgary, Alta. (Nov. 20-22), proceeding to Victoria, B.C.(Nov. 26-29) and concluding in Nanaimo, B.C. (Dec. 3-6). The detailed schedule of presenters is available on the NEB website.
An invitation to provide OTE in the reconsideration hearing was extended to the approximately 45 Indigenous intervenors. The Board understands that Indigenous peoples have an oral tradition for sharing knowledge from generation to generation. This information cannot always be shared adequately or appropriately in writing, and the Board believes it will be valuable in the Reconsideration.
To date, approximately 30 from Alberta, British Columbia, and the United States have said they intend to participate in the OTE sessions.
The NEB will provide a live audio feed of the hearing sessions via its website. Transcripts of each session will also be available.
The focus of the reconsideration is the application of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012, and the Species at Risk Act to project-related marine shipping. Along with OTE, the reconsideration hearing includes a written portion.
The hearing schedule responds to the Government of Canada’s direction for the NEB to reconsider aspects of its May 2016 recommendation report, and to complete the reconsideration process and issue its resulting report no later than February 22, 2019.
