Thank you, Mr. Chair and honourable members.
My name is Jean-Denis Charlebois, and I am chief economist at the Canada Energy Regulator. I am joined by my colleague Jess Dunford, director of major projects oversight at the CER.
I want to acknowledge to you today that I am speaking to you from Montreal, the traditional territory of the Kanien'kehá:ka, or the Mohawk, a place that has long served as a site of meeting and exchange amongst nations.
Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to speak about our work at the Canada Energy Regulator, or CER, and how it relates to your study of federal assistance to various natural resources sectors, including the energy sector.
I would also like to thank the committee for your flexibility as several members of our senior management team are at home recovering from illness.
I am going to speak to you today about the CER, our mandate, how energy infrastructure projects under the CER’s jurisdiction are assessed, and provide some context about the CER’s role as it pertains to the Trans Mountain Expansion Project, or TMX.
At the CER, we work to keep energy moving in Canada while enforcing some of the strictest safety and environmental standards in the world. In everything we do, safety and environmental oversight are always at the forefront. It is the reason we exist.
The CER is a cost-recovered organization, which means that the cost of virtually all of our activities is recovered by the Government of Canada from the industry we regulate, in accordance with our cost recovery regulations.
It's very important to point out that the CER does not develop or set government policy, nor is the CER involved, in any way, in federal programs designed to provide assistance to the natural resources sector. We are the regulator. Questions on these matters are best directed to my colleagues on the panel today, as well as previous panels that you've seen this week from Natural Resources Canada, for example.
The commission of the CER is a court of record responsible for making independent adjudicative decisions and recommendations on pipeline, power line and offshore renewable energy projects under federal jurisdiction. Our commission assesses project applications to make a determination or a recommendation as to whether the project is in the public interest.
As a regulator, we oversee the safe construction, operation, decommissioning and abandonment of energy infrastructure.
In addition to our adjudicative role, the CER provides oversight throughout the life cycle of pipelines and power lines under federal jurisdiction. Our standards are among the highest in the world, and we conduct inspections and company audits to ensure compliance with all regulatory requirements during construction and ongoing operations. We also partner with indigenous peoples in undertaking our life cycle oversight.
Alongside our regulatory functions, the CER plays a vital role in providing timely and relevant energy information and analysis to support the energy conversation in Canada. For example, we model, based on different assumptions, how possible energy futures might unfold for Canadians over the long term under various scenarios in our energy future series. The next iteration of the CER's “Energy Futures” report will include scenarios where Canada meets net-zero emission by 2050, and will be published next spring.
Since the TMX project was approved by the Governor in Council, the CER has been actively involved in monitoring the construction of the project and ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements. Once the project's construction phase has been completed, the CER will continue to provide life cycle oversight to ensure that it is operated in accordance with our world-leading environmental and safety standards.
Additionally, I would like to note that the then NEB back in 2018 had no role in the government's decision to purchase the Trans Mountain pipeline. The NEB did not provide any advice, nor was it consulted by the government prior to the purchase.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak with you today about the work of the Canada Energy Regulator, and more specifically, about our role relating to the Trans Mountain Expansion Project.
I look forward to your questions.