The position of the Fraser Institute would be that regulation that is needed is important and protection of the environment is important. That's the bottom line. Regulation, however, needs to be as efficient as possible and needs to be changed in accordance with technologies and kept up to date. But in some cases there is a tendency for regulators to add functions to their roles that increase the cost of their organizations.
As I've mentioned, regulations sometimes need to be updated. If you look at the National Energy Board Act and why and when it was put into place, the world is different today, and some of the concerns that were foremost at that time are not something, perhaps, the National Energy Board needs to be concerned about. For example, if we're looking into whether a proposed pipeline project is necessary from a commercial and economic point of view, certainly the proponents wouldn't be applying to construct a pipeline if it wasn't viable, and they're the risk takers, so that's something the National Energy Board likely doesn't need to spend much, if any, time on.
On the other hand, there are new developments and concerns as we get more into unconventional oil and gas recovery. The institute certainly is in support of necessary and continually updated regulation.