Natural Resources Committee on Nov. 20th, 2013

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

Good afternoon, everyone.

We're here today for two hours to review certain proposed appointees.

In the first hour we'll be looking at appointees to the National Energy Board. I'll read the motion and then the names of the individuals we will be reviewing in the first hour. The motion is as follows:Pursuant to Standing Orders 110 and 111, and the motion adopted by the Committee on Wednesday, November 6, 2013, Order in Council appointment of Kenneth Bateman to the Position of Member of the National Energy Board, referred to the Committee on Tuesday, October 22, 2013.

As well as reviewing the appointment of Mr. Bateman, we will be reviewing the appointments of Shane Parrish, Dr. Ron Wallace, and Don Young as members of the board.

These are the four appointees we'll be reviewing in the first hour.

Gentlemen, you each have up to five minutes to make a statement leading up to the questions. We'll take those one after the other at the start of the meeting. Then we will open it up for questions and comments by members in the normal fashion.

We will start with the statements by the appointees being reviewed. We will start with Mr. Kenneth Bateman.

Go ahead, please, Mr. Bateman.

[Kenneth Bateman, Member, National Energy Board]

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Let me introduce myself. My name is Kenneth Bateman and I have been a member of the National Energy Board since 2006.

I would like to begin by thanking the committee for the opportunity to talk about my qualifications and views as a member of the National Energy Board.

I will be answering your questions in English to ensure my answers are clear and precise. Thank you.

I have been fortunate to enjoy a career that has afforded me a variety of different roles, all of which I feel uniquely contribute to my participation in the independent, quasi-judicial role the board plays in Canadian energy regulation.

I began my career in law upon obtaining my bachelor of laws degree from the University of Alberta in 1984. My practice led me to increasingly specialize in financial and energy-related legal matters. My energy-related expertise included renewable power as well as biowaste remediation, and later the field of electricity.

I eventually served as senior counsel and then vice-president of legal for ENMAX Corporation, a utility. This gave me the opportunity to acquire depth and understanding of the importance of a transparent, fair, and balanced approach to regulated energy.

During the course of my practice, I was fortunate to gain exposure to and expertise in a variety of aspects of law and corporate operations. I find that these support the work I do at the National Energy Board.

Specifically, I developed a deep understanding of corporate governance, funding for large projects, environmental assessments, ethics, tribunal proceedings, energy regulations and deregulation, and of course all of the transactional work associated with these areas.

During the course of my career in the private sector, I took an educational hiatus and completed a master’s degree in international business management at the American Graduate School of International Management. I was also an instructor at the University of Victoria in this period.

My focus has been on cultural fluency in international business, understanding regional contexts and international marketing in our own North American business context.

As you are aware, these experiences culminated in my appointment to the National Energy Board in 2006. I can say that my learning and professional development certainly have not ended. I have tremendously enjoyed learning about the public sector, and especially the Canadian regulatory framework, from this side of the fence.

I have been involved in many hearing days as a board member. I have sat for over 250 days. I am currently serving on the gateway pipeline application. In this context, the pipeline application has not yet been completed, nor have the reasons for decision been released. For that reason, I will not be in a position to answer any specific questions relating to the gateway decision.

What has affected me most in my board member role over these past six years is the responsibility to make decisions in the Canadian public interest. This opportunity and challenge has become the high point of my career. It has drawn upon all aspects of my legal, business, academic, and life experiences. It has required extensive travel across Canada, and has put me face to face with Canadians with diverse backgrounds and perspectives on complex issues that deeply affect their lives and their communities.

This diversity has been amplified by many different spoken languages, cultural traditions, economics, education, and social views. Through this I have gained a deeper capacity to be open-minded, neutral, and fully present through lengthy hearings, some of which span many days and weeks. It has required me to comprehend the positions of all parties and to carefully weigh all sides of an argument in order to come to a sound decision in the Canadian public interest.

In closing, on a personal note, I believe I am, and continue to strive to be, knowledgeable about the law, and particularly the Canadian regulatory process. I hold myself accountable to be fair and open-minded, to be a good listener, to ask questions that get to the heart of an issue, to write decisions that are clear and cogent, all of this leading to making decisions in the Canadian public interest that are informed and will stand up to close scrutiny.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

Thank you very much, Mr. Bateman, for your opening statement.

I want to thank all of you for being here by video conference from Calgary today. It is very much appreciated. It was a bit of a short notice, but I'm very pleased you've accommodated this.

Now we will go to Mr. Shane Parrish.

Please go ahead, sir. You have up to five minutes.

[Shane Parrish, Member, National Energy Board]

Thank you, honourable members. Good afternoon.

I welcome this opportunity to appear before the committee today to discuss my qualifications as a member of Canada's National Energy Board. I was recently appointed as a permanent member of the National Energy Board, on August 6, 2013.

I was honoured to be appointed to this well-respected organization, to serve this country in making decisions in the regulation of pipelines, energy development, and trade in the Canadian public interest.

As a member of the board, I bring to the table 24 years of experience in the area of community economic development in the Northwest Territories, eastern Arctic—now part of Nunavut—and northeastern British Columbia.

My experience is largely in working with first nations in the north, doing consultation, business development, and negotiations in the petroleum and mining industries. I have on-the-ground experience in all aspects of the upstream oil and gas industry. I have represented first nations clients in negotiations with major Canadian energy producers and pipeline companies, with a focus on benefits and access and benefits agreements. I understand the importance of building positive and effective relationships as well as facilitating communications and cross-cultural understanding.

I was the CEO of the Acho Dene Koe Corporate Group, where I oversaw the growth and development of band-owned corporations and their relationships with oil and gas companies. This included ownership in pipelines. I also sat on the boards of first nation-owned companies and first nation-owned joint ventures.

In addition, I spent five years as an economic development officer with the Government of the Northwest Territories.

These varied roles and experiences eventually led me to work as a consultant for first nations, industry, and government in northeastern British Columbia, the NWT, and Yukon.

I should add that my experiences have not all been up north. I studied at the University of Calgary, where I completed my bachelor of arts in economics. My educational background also enabled me to live in Nova Scotia, where I completed a diploma in social development from the Coady International Institute at St. Francis Xavier University, a world-renowned centre of excellence in community-based development and leadership education.

As a manager, a CEO, and a negotiator, I have often been called in to work to reconcile divergent positions. My training in community-based development has provided me with a solid background throughout my career. I believe these experiences will serve me well as part of the quasi-judicial tribunal, the NEB. I understand the mandate given to us by Parliament, and I'm confident in the robust regulatory framework we have to work with.

In my short time at the board, it has become apparent that we as members are extremely well supported by over 400 knowledgeable and professional staff. The NEB's employees are, in my opinion, the jewel in the crown of the organization. In addition, I am surrounded by a wealth of knowledge and experience in my fellow board members, and I look forward to working with them and learning from them.

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

Thank you very much, Mr. Parrish.

We go now to Dr. Ron Wallace, for up to five minutes.

Go ahead please, sir.

[Ron Wallace, Member, National Energy Board]

Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, and honourable members.

My name is Ron Wallace. I would like to open by noting that I consider it a significant honour to be able to appear before you today and also to have been appointed just this very November to the National Energy Board. This board has an internationally recognized reputation as an independent and expert energy regulator, and I'm eager to serve Canada in my new capacity as a permanent member.

I'm prepared to answer any questions you may have for me, but first I would appreciate the opportunity to present a brief overview of my career.

I am proud of the fact that I am an environmental scientist with regulatory enforcement experience that has been gained across Canada, including on all three coasts of our nation.

I am originally from Saskatchewan. My education has included degrees from the University of Regina, the University of Saskatchewan, and subsequent post-graduate degrees from Queen's University and the University of Waterloo. I also have some training from Stanford University in the United States at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

I began my career as a regulatory and enforcement biologist with Environment Canada and was based in the Northwest Territories where I carried out onshore and offshore inspections of exploratory drilling activities in the Mackenzie Delta and the Beaufort Sea. In that capacity I led precedent-setting environment prosecutions for environmental infractions, including those associated with certain northern mining entities. I was subsequently seconded as an adviser to the Berger Mackenzie Valley pipeline inquiry, and then served later with Fisheries and Oceans Canada as a research manager seconded to the Alberta oil sands environmental research program.

I also served on a secretariat for the Beaufort Sea Environmental Assessment Panel in 1985, and then subsequently led certain components of the eastern Arctic marine environmental studies program, where I was based for a significant amount of time in Pond Inlet on the northern end of Baffin Island. I subsequently managed the Alberta acid deposition research program, ADRP, and also, in association with independent medical researchers from McGill University, managed one of the world's largest and most complete environmental epidemiological studies, which was called the southwestern Alberta medical diagnostic review, which investigated possible health effects from gas plant emissions on people residing in southwestern Alberta.

I'll talk a little bit about my aboriginal corporate development and mediation experience. As a consultant where I was managing my own Alberta-based company, I led environmental mediations between aboriginal communities and their aboriginal associations and oil sands developers and the Alberta government on behalf of the Energy Resources Conservation Board, negotiations. This ultimately resulted in the successful formation of the highly competent Fort McKay Group of Companies, which also included an aboriginal-owned and operated environmental monitoring company, and extended to a buffalo ranching operation that was carried out on reclaimed mine grasslands in association with a large oil sands producer.

My experience with regulatory boards has included, most recently, being executive director of the Northwest Territories Water Board based in Inuvik. I have also worked with the Kitikmeot Inuit Association as the chief operations officer to help develop and incorporate the Nunavut Resources Corporation in Nunavut.

In the former role, I am proud to report that the NWT Water Board recently completed, under my leadership as the executive director, one of the NWT's largest regulatory licensing exercises in the past 20 years, with the successful completion of the licensing for the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk highway project, ITH, a project that is a key development in the Inuvialuit settlement region of the Northwest Territories.

The regulatory and licensing process for this significant project included the development of environmental information requests that were addressed to the proponent which led to public hearings in Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk in early October. The regulatory and licensing process is aimed at ensuring that long-term sustainable environmental management is achieved for this project as Canada develops a road access network through this difficult permafrost deltaic region that will eventually extend north to the Beaufort Sea.

Now I'd like to touch upon my more recent roles in crafting new environmental regulatory and assessment agencies in Alberta.

Before my appointment to the NEB, I served as vice-chair of the Alberta Environmental Monitoring Management Board. That followed my having previously chaired the Alberta oil sands environmental working group, prior to which I served as a member of the Alberta Environmental Monitoring Panel.

The work of the Alberta Environmental Monitoring Management Board led to the successful tabling in Alberta of legislation, Bill 31, on October 28, 2013, to establish the first province-wide environmental monitoring, evaluation, and reporting agency. It is a pioneering legislative development, if not unique development for Alberta, and indeed for Canada.

I would suggest that through these and other related positions, I have gained experience in dealing with environmental management, energy regulation, and policy issues, especially related to the broader goals of achieving environmental monitoring and quality.

This professional work experience, I believe, has provided me with a strong basis to constructively work as an NEB board member to ensure that regulatory measures are designed and implemented to effectively and responsibly protect environmental and human resources that are potentially affected by energy developments in Canada. This, as you know, is a key mandate of the NEB.

In addition, I also have significant international and corporate board experience. My work has taken me to places such as Russia, Venezuela, and west Africa, where I have managed a major water resource development and environmental assessment program for the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the Asian Development Bank. In that capacity, I managed one of the world's largest oil spill assessment and recovery programs associated with the rupture of the Kharyaga Pechora heavy oil pipeline near Usinsk, in the Komi republic of Russia.

I then subsequently led initial assessments and a consultation program with the Nenets reindeer herders associated with proposed Russian Bovanenkovo gas field development programs on the Yamal Peninsula and the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug of the Russian Federation.

My more recent experience also includes being appointed as a senior fellow to the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute, where I authored numerous policy papers dealing with issues relating to Canadian Arctic security, sovereignty, and search and rescue matters.

In conclusion, I would like to repeat my genuine excitement about this new position with the NEB and my pride at being so appointed. From my prior experience working with northern regulators in association with the NEB staff through the northern board forum process, and from my short time that I have been here with the board, I have seen repeated demonstration of the professionalism of the staff and the fellow board members, all of whom have significant experience in a wide variety of disciplines of relevance to Canadian energy regulation.

My excitement also stems from a passion to ensure that the NEB continues to deliver to Canadians on its mandate as a fair and principled energy regulator that can demonstrate balanced and independent decision-making. In short, I mean science-based, transparent decision-making that weighs impartially the evidence required to find and deliver workable solutions in the public interest that ultimately benefits all Canadians.

I look forward to working with my colleagues and staff to achieve the NEB's stated goal of attempting to achieve zero incidents through the implementation of continuous improvement systems to deliver a safe, reliable, and trusted energy delivery system that works for the interest of all Canadians.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

Thank you, Dr. Ron Wallace, member of the National Energy Board.

The final individual today whose appointment we will review is Mr. Don Young, again, a member of the National Energy Board.

Go ahead, please, for up to five minutes.

[Don Young, Member, National Energy Board]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Good afternoon, honourable members.

I want to thank you for the invitation to appear before you today, and I look forward to answering any questions you may have. Before doing so, I would like to offer you an overview of the experience and qualifications I bring to my position as a member of the National Energy Board.

Let me begin by saying that it is indeed an honour to become a member of the NEB, effective September of this year. Although it is still early in my role, I have been consistently impressed by the professionalism, dedication, and quality of the work being undertaken by the board. In my view, this is clearly the result of a dynamic partnership between our talented and committed staff and fellow board members in pursuit of fulfilling the NEB's mandate.

To assist you in your own mandate to better understand my qualifications for fulfilling the role to which I have been appointed, I will offer you a brief overview of my background. Most fundamentally, my career has been built upon a foundation of environmental science, coupled with a deep understanding of energy issues and affected stakeholders.

Academically, I have a bachelor of science degree in biology from the University of Regina and a master of science degree in zoology from the University of Alberta.

Upon graduation, my first job was to assess the environmental impacts of large-diameter pipelines throughout western and northern Canada. I went on to found a company called Environmental Management Associates, which was fully devoted to environmental, social, and engineering studies of energy, mining, and water projects. Importantly, this work involved extensive stakeholder consultation with aboriginal groups, environmental non-governmental organizations, landowners, and other potentially affected parties. That work also involved participation in complex regulatory hearings.

Environmental Management Associates eventually merged with a company called Golder Associates, a leading international physical and social science consulting firm. I was a principal with Golder, where I led environmental engineering and socio-economic impact assessments on an international scale, working across North America and South America, as well as in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

Our client base included natural resources extraction industries, but also aboriginal communities, NGOs, and federal...[Technical difficulty--Editor]...lines, to formulating water and sustainable agriculture policies and programs.

In 1995, I was chosen to become the executive vice-president and chief operating officer of Ducks Unlimited Canada. This role afforded me the opportunity to maintain my commitment to environmental and social science, but in this case from the perspective of a leading environmental and science-based non-governmental organization. Here I provided strategic direction for what is widely acknowledged to be Canada's most trusted and respected conservation organization. With a staff of more than 500 scientists and other professionals, and a membership base of nearly 100,000 representing every province and territory, we were able to deliver landscape-scale conservation initiatives across Canada. This is possible only through the development of strategic partnerships with federal and provincial governments, aboriginal groups, other NGOs, and various corporate supporters, including the energy industry.

In 1999, I was selected to become CEO and member of the board for Ducks Unlimited's international operations. Here I was able to continue to nurture Ducks Unlimited's reputation as a science-based, pragmatic, solutions-oriented NGO. Key initiatives here included developing continental conservation initiatives, pursuing leading-edge science research, and promoting key environmental policies within Canada, the United States, and Mexico.

The organization's culture of cultivating partnerships to magnify conservation impacts was central to our success. Here we engaged with first nations, global NGOs, governments, universities, and corporations to raise the needed dollars and to implement policies and programs to protect vital landscapes. Additionally, in my board capacity, I had significant fiduciary responsibilities in the areas of governance, ethics, safety, and reasoned and fair decision-making.

I might also note that during my tenure at Ducks Unlimited, my ongoing commitment towards continuous learning continued with my participation at Harvard Business School in education with respect to not-for-profit management.

In 2010, I was recruited to become the senior vice-president of corporate sustainability for Smith & Nephew, an 11,000-person, London-based international medical technology company. Here my role was to provide global sustainability leadership to improve the company's environmental, social, and economic performance in a highly regulated industry.

I developed and implemented Smith & Nephew's first comprehensive global sustainability strategy and a corporate citizenship community engagement strategy, led extensive stakeholder relations programs, and developed regulatory policies for sustainable practices. Additional responsibilities included directing day-to-day activities of the company's environmental health and safety programs worldwide.

I'm hopeful that this overview of my background will serve to affirm my career-long commitment towards science, sustainability, regulatory compliance, and reasoned decision-making. My new role with Canada's NEB is a continuation of this sustainable journey where we focus on the necessity of a strong, clear, and unbiased regulatory regime, based on protecting the public interest and balancing the economic, social, and environmental aspects of energy development.

My career, which includes an uninterrupted commitment towards environmental science, coupled with diverse perspectives and international experience, has equipped me to objectively state that Canada's energy regulatory framework is one of the strongest in the world.

I'm proud to be able to serve in my new capacity to help ensure that the National Energy Board effectively and efficiently fulfills this important mandate that we've been provided by Parliament.

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

Thank you very much, Mr. Don Young, member, National Energy Board.

Before we go to questioning, there are a few things I'd like to point out to members. I want to remind you that under the Standing Orders the questions are limited to questions examining the individual's qualifications and competence to perform the duties of the office sought. Those are the limitations to questioning.

The chair can and will interrupt if there are questions that I deem to be irrelevant to the examination of credentials and qualifications.

There are certain other questions which, under the Standing Orders, are considered not to be appropriate, but rather than my trying to make a judgment on that, I'll let it go to the members, and in their good wisdom they can decide whether they'd like to answer those questions or not. I'm not in any way going to try to restrict members from asking the questions they would like to ask here today unless they're not relevant.

Any question may be permitted if it can be shown that it relates directly to the appointee's or the nominee's ability to perform his or her duties of office.

I have a reminder, of course, and the reminder was already given by one of the gentlemen today. They simply wouldn't be free to answer questions on any hearing that has not yet been made public. This is a public meeting, so I just remind you of that.

With those reminders, we will go directly to questions and comments. We'll start with the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources, Kelly Block. Go ahead, Ms. Block, for up to seven minutes.

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you for the opportunity to have heard the details of all of the individuals who are before us today by hearing about their experience. I want to welcome you here via video conference. I appreciate the fact that you've taken time to join us.

What is extremely obvious from all of you sharing your CVs and the experience you have is that there is a very diverse set of expertise and experience around the table. It's almost overwhelming to try to pick out what things to focus on when asking about your credentials.

A couple of things were mentioned. I do note that there are both full-time and part-time members on the National Energy Board. At least two of you said that you were pleased to have been appointed as a permanent member. Would you describe for me what that means, to have been appointed as a permanent member?

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

Ms. Block, is that directed at any particular member?

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK]

Maybe it's for one or the other who mentioned they had either just been appointed as a permanent member or are a permanent member.

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

It looks to me as though Mr. Bateman would like to answer that question.

Go ahead, please.

[Kenneth Bateman]

Good afternoon. Thank you for that question.

A permanent member is an individual who has been appointed for a term of seven years. Their day-to-day responsibilities are dedicated solely to the work of the board. In accepting that position, they are also required to surrender certain interests and activities that would otherwise be acceptable or appropriate. This is to ensure that at all times there are no conflicts of interest, that they are neutral, and that they are non-partisan.

Those who are part-time have assignments of a shorter duration, typically for a period of two or possibly three years. They are involved in particular hearings to which they are suited, and they are needed to assist the board in hearing work. They are not precluded from other work and activities that are appropriate, such as consulting and other work they might be involved in.

Thank you.

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK]

To follow up on that, typically do part-time members become permanent members? Can they become permanent members?

[Kenneth Bateman]

While that is possible, there would be a separate process in which they would apply or might be approached, but it would require a complete vetting process. Typically, though, those individuals who are part-time are able to participate from any area in Canada. We have part-time members whose homes and livelihoods are centred anywhere from the maritime provinces to the west coast. A full-time member, however, is required to reside in or near the National Energy Board office here in Calgary.

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK]

Okay. Thank you.

How many members are there all together on the board?

[Kenneth Bateman]

There are 16 members, permanent and temporary.

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK]

Thank you.

I'm going to drill down a little bit more. I'm not sure if I'll take up the full seven minutes I have. I'm going to direct some of my questions now to Ron Wallace.

I've chosen to direct my questions to you because I note that you graduated from the University of Saskatchewan. Since I am from Saskatchewan, that caught my eye right away. Nonetheless, I appreciated what you shared about your experience.

First of all, I want to note that your various appointments include vice-chairman of the Alberta Environmental Monitoring Management Board, to which you were appointed by the Alberta Minister of Environment and Sustainable Resource Development. You are also widely published on a wide range of scientific and national policy issues, and you have prepared presentations for standing committees at the Senate and the House of Commons. I'm wondering if you would like to pull from those things how they qualify you for the position that you are being appointed to.

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

Go ahead, please, sir.

[Ron Wallace]

Mr. Chairman and honourable member, thank you very much for that question.

I may perhaps after this moment be known as the member from Moose Jaw, but so be it. I'm very proud of that.

I thank you for the acknowledgement of my university background. I think that the mandate of a board member, a permanent board member, is to be able to act as an independent decision-maker, one who makes decisions that are based on the facts of particular cases that are brought before the National Energy Board.

That whole focus as an independent decision-maker extends, in my view, beyond the issue of qualifications, either technical qualification or even a university qualification basis. In my view, the nation's best interests are best served by decision-makers who can demonstrate balance, fairness, and at the same time capability to review the facts of the cases or the applications that are brought before it and look broadly down the field to try to craft decisions that are in the broader public interest of all Canadians, not just applicants or others who may be affected by it, but all Canadians.

Having done some of the things you touched on, I believe I have the capacity and capability not only to take that balanced view and bring technical qualifications to the table, but also to author reasons for decision and to understand that broader public interest.

I don't want to go too much further into it, but part of that background has been in working with a broad range of aboriginal and northern communities in the last 30 years, as you've seen on my CV. The privilege of working not only east-west but north-south across those cultural dimensions, I think, has given me a humility in the face of the interests of all Canadians, all Canadians meaning all Canadians from east to west and north to south.

I don't know if I've answered your question adequately, but my view is that I hope I've demonstrated that capacity for balance and fairness.

Thank you.

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK]

Thank you very much, Dr. Wallace, and I'll just make one closing comment.

It's my understanding that permanent members reside in Calgary, Alberta. Is that correct?

[Ron Wallace]

Mr. Chairman, yes that is correct. All of the current permanent members are based in Calgary, and as member Bateman mentioned, we have a large number of temporary members who are spread across the country. That's correct.

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK]

While you may have been conflicted last Sunday while watching the football game, perhaps this upcoming Sunday you'll be cheering for the Roughriders.

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

That question is out of order. I don't think it's appropriate to ask the member which football team he's rooting for, nor is it necessary—he's from Saskatchewan.