Bill C-38 and the Evolution of the National Energy Board

The members of the Board of Directors are appointed by the Faculty of Law at the University of Calgary and the President of the University of Calgary. [...] According to public opinion polls at the time, the biggest factor in the defeat of the Liberal government of 22 years was the pipeline and the government’s use of parliamentary closure.35 2.3 The Creation of the NEB In the days following the great pipeline debate, Diefenbaker advocated for a Canadian energy board to be established.36 The idea was to give decision making power to an independent qua [...] As the 10 January 2012 start of the Joint Review panel community hearings approached, the Federal government was clearly concerned with the direction the process was taking.50 Within the Joint Review Panel of the NEB and CEAA process, the hearing order allowed for opportunities for the public to make oral presentations, file letters of comment and seek formal intervener status.51 As the process un [...] For the Board and its staff, nothing has changed, saving for the wording of the Board’s disposition, and the covering page of the decision, in keeping with the wishes of Parliament.102 Regardless of whether the role of the Board was actually changed by the amendments to section 52, political opposition and environmental groups opposed to oil sands development have persistently said it has. [...] Bill C-38 and the Evolution of the NEB / 25 CIRL Occasional Paper #52 responsibilities under the National Energy Board Act focus on the pipeline itself and that the Board does not even regulate the upstream facilities in the oil sands, the court determined that it was reasonable for the Board to exclude climate change from its consideration.