Mr. Speaker, earlier this year an application was put before the National Energy Board to convert an aging oil pipeline that runs across southwestern Ontario to natural gas. A number of my constituents of London-Middlesex appeared before a hearing of the NEB to object to the potential environmental risks this conversion posed to their land.
In hearings such as this, property owners are up against large companies with unlimited resources to prepare their applications. Affected landowners have no choice but to spend their own money to cover legal fees and expenses in preparation for an NEB hearing.
In all fairness, access to intervener funding would ensure a more level playing field. I urge the government to amend the National Energy Board Act to provide the NEB with the authority to award intervener funding to landowners who are forced to intervene in such proceedings.