Examination Of The Joint Review Panel’s Aboriginal Consultation Process In Enbridge’s Proposed Northern Gateway Project

• Main Author: Fry, Christopher
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: Sustainable Energy Development 2014
• Subjects: British Columbia; Canada; First Nations
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1880/109650; https://doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/35909

Oil and gas development is expanding at a rapid rate in Canada and companies are becoming increasingly desperate to ship their product to international markets. Expanding petroleum development in Canada, with dependence on the United States as the chief destination, has prompted energy companies to push for access to international, particularly Asian markets. The Northern Gateway Project (NGP) is a pipeline proposed by Enbridge that will ship diluted bitumen (DilBit) from Alberta’s oilsands to the central coast of British Columbia (B.C.) for shipping to Asia via supertankers. The proposed pipeline and tankers will cross the traditional territories of many First Nations and Métis communities throughout Alberta and B.C. and the federal government has a responsibility to consult and accommodate these Aboriginal groups. A Joint Review Panel (JRP), mandated by the National Energy Board (NEB) and Ministry of Environment to determine whether the NGP is in the public interest, is tasked with fulfilling the Crown’s duty to consult. This paper uses the NGP as a case study of examining the effectiveness of JRPs in fulfilling the Crown’s duty to consult Aboriginal people for large mid-stream energy infrastructure projects. More effective methods are recommended for Crown consultation with Aboriginal people for large energy projects that require a federal environmental assessment, such as an Ecosystem-based Management (EBM) approach. Research for this paper was completed prior to December 19, 2013 release of the Joint Review Panel their decision to recommend the approval of the NGP.