Mr. Speaker, with regard to (a), the Canadian Energy Regulator Act, or CER Act, establishes the Canada Energy Regulator, or CER, as the federal body that oversees the regulation of pipelines that cross provincial or international boundaries. The CER Act can be found at https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-15.1/index.html.
The CER’s mandate, responsibilities and powers are established under the CER Act and a number of other Acts and Regulations, which are found at https://www.cer-rec.gc.ca/en/about/acts-regulations/list-acts-regulations/index.html.
The Commission of the CER is an independent entity within the governance structure of the CER, authorized under the CER Act and other relevant legislation to adjudicate pipelines and other energy projects. The Commission adheres to the purpose and provisions of the CER Act when assessing whether a pipeline application should be approved, balancing factors that are set out in the CER Act such as: impacts to the environment; impacts to the rights and interests of Indigenous Peoples; the need for the project; economic impacts; job creation; and whether it can be built and operated safely. The CER Act requires the Commission to establish fair, inclusive, transparent, and efficient regulatory processes for assessing applications. Prior to making a recommendation or decision about a project, the Commission considers the views of the people and communities who may be potentially impacted by the project.
When making recommendations and decisions, the Commission is required to consider a number of factors including any adverse effects that a project may have on the rights of the Indigenous Peoples of Canada recognized and affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982.
The CER uses a cooperative and respectful approach to engagement with Indigenous Peoples. The UN Declaration, including its provisions regarding free, prior and informed consent, provides important context for this work and can be a relevant consideration for the Commission when designing its hearing processes for the purpose of making decisions or recommendations for new pipeline projects.
With regard to (b), the CER Act mandates that all applications must be dealt with as expeditiously as the circumstances and procedural fairness and natural justice permit and sets out legislated time limits for how long assessment processes can take. In addition, the Commission has established service standards that identify specific delivery targets for processing applications. Information about the CER’s time limits and service standards can be found at: https://www.cer-rec.gc.ca/en/about/who-we-are-what-we-do/cer-time-limits-and-service-standards.html.
These time limits and service standards vary according to the size and complexity of the proposed project. Pursuant to the time limits set out in the CER Act, pipelines that are 40 km in length or under must be processed by the Commission within 130 – 300 calendar days, and these are generally processed faster, within service standards of between 40 and 120 days, depending on complexity. Applications for pipelines that are over 40 kilometres in length must be processed by the Commission within a 15-month time limit. For these projects, the Commission makes a recommendation about whether a project should be approved, but the final decision is then made by the Governor in Council.
The CER has achieved the time limit for 99% of the thousands of applications assessed under the CER Act for which time limits apply.
Pipeline projects that meet the thresholds in Physical Activities Regulations, available at https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2019-285/FullText.html, go through an impact assessment or integrated review process, led by the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada and a decision is made by the Governor in Council.