Thank you.
Good morning. I appreciate this opportunity to present to the committee and to share with you perspectives from the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association.
We represent companies that transport 97% of all the oil and natural gas produced and used in Canada. Our membership currently operates more than 100,000 kilometres of pipelines in North America.
Pipelines are the only feasible and by far the safest means to transport large quantities of oil and natural gas over land. We know from many energy forecasts that we will need to deliver that energy for a long time to come. These energy highways are the means through which Canada achieves lucrative energy revenues and trade and energy security for its citizens.
I'm here to speak to you about the 2012 budget, but just for some background I'd like to lay a brief foundation first. The Canadian economy, during the recent period of uncertainty it has come through, and the 2011 budget have turned the federal government toward a more long-term outlook. Minister Flaherty has stated that our long-term focus is now shifting from protecting jobs and output to creating the right conditions for more long-term jobs and stronger growth.
Canada is in a more favourable position than many countries, in part because of the government's having chosen a prudent approach. Economic recovery is a big part of that. CEPA's proposals for the next budget will enable economic growth and job creation while representing the goal of fiscal restraint.
Our recommendations fall into two main categories. The first is to continue reform of regulatory processes and laws to ensure that public interest decisions, including environmental protection, are achieved through timely, efficient, and predictable processes. The processes must focus on effectiveness and efficiency and guarantee the necessary capacity within government to move private sector projects through government decision making in a timely manner. This will enable job creation and economic development to the benefit of all Canadians.
The second recommendation category is that for existing pipelines we must ensure that the regulatory capacity and tools are in place to safeguard critical infrastructure, protect communities, and enable reliable energy security and trade as well as environmental protection.
With that in mind, our first specific recommendation is to renew funding and the mandate of the Major Projects Management Office for a three-year period. This is a critical function, which allows executives across government to continue their work on the whole-of-government approach to regulatory coordination and crown consultation. The funding is necessary to advance modern and efficient regulatory practices and enable reporting on results across departments and jurisdictions.
I urge the government to maintain this commitment and to ensure that appropriate personnel are in place. A failure to adequately resource the MPMO and key regulators will undermine the timeliness of decisions, placing hundreds of millions of investment at risk. We ourselves are forecasting close to $40 billion in projects for the next several years.
The second recommendation is to focus environmental legislation to improve regulatory performance. Canada's existing laws related to energy and environment have been assembled over many years and are somewhat of a patchwork quilt. Some of those include the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, the Fisheries Act, the Species at Risk Act, and the Migratory Birds Convention Act. They've each been developed and implemented one at a time to address specific issues. Today we need an updated framework of legislation so that all of the individual decision components can make sense together.
We believe that the reforms should include an integration of decision-making processes to pursue optimal environmental incomes, to support efficiency gains and timeliness within government, to direct resources where they have the greatest effect, and to ensure that crown consultation for aboriginal peoples is in place effectively.
Third, we must protect that infrastructure. In particular, we need the National Energy Board to have in place the enforcement tools and capacity to ensure that “call before you dig” is mandatory and that the right tools are there to encourage appropriate behaviour for excavators.
Do I have one minute?