House of Commons photoLost his last election, in 2015, with 43% of the vote.
BUSINESS OF SUPPLY May 21st, 2013
Mr. Chair, the member opposite is asking me how many times my staff has met with an independent regulator. So many of these questions are questions that would more appropriately be raised with people in the department at a more junior level.
Canadian corporations must comply with the rules and regulations of the National Energy Board. The latter is an independent regulatory body, and it will take all measures required to protect the public and the environment.
BUSINESS OF SUPPLY May 21st, 2013
Mr. Chair, our government is investing to ensure Canada has world-class pipeline safety systems and, as reflected in the main estimates, $5 million is dedicated to increasing inspections for pipelines from 1 to 150 and doubling the amounts of annual audits.
BUSINESS OF SUPPLY May 21st, 2013
Mr. Chair, in the time allotted I will just say that the NEB enforces the regulations.
BUSINESS OF SUPPLY May 21st, 2013
Mr. Chair, as I said, we have full confidence in the regulations. The Board has received Enbridge's corrective action plan, which addresses the non-compliance issues, except for Enbridge's plan to address compliance problems on Line 9.
The NEB requires pipeline companies to anticipate, prevent, manage and mitigate situations related to their pipelines that could present a threat and to take immediate action in cases of compliance—
What is the problem?
BUSINESS OF SUPPLY May 21st, 2013
Mr. Chair, we have every confidence in the NEB to do its work, and in fact it is doing so. It is a strong independent regulator of pipeline safety. It subjects pipeline development proposals to an extensive review process taking into account pipeline safety and protection of the environment. Public regulated pipelines boast a safety record of 99.9996% of the crude oil and petroleum product that was transported. I have full confidence the pipeline--
BUSINESS OF SUPPLY May 21st, 2013
Mr. Chair, the NEB is the agency that oversees the compliance by the energy companies and it will continue to do so.
Canadian companies must comply with National Energy Board regulations. It is an independent regulatory body. The NEB will take all the necessary steps to protect the public and the environment.
When the NEB identifies deficiencies in a company's system, projects or programs, it requires that the company make certain immediate changes to correct those deficiencies or draw up plans for corrective measures that must be approved.
BUSINESS OF SUPPLY May 21st, 2013
Mr. Chair, as I said, this government manages resources responsibly, and we are using its plan and taking effective measures to improve the safety and integrity of Canada's pipeline projects.
The plan increases pipeline safety by allocating $13.5 million over two years to the National Energy Board in order to increase the number of oil and gas pipeline inspections from about 100 to 150 per year. The plan also doubles the number of comprehensive annual audits in order to identify potential problems and prevent incidents from happening.
BUSINESS OF SUPPLY May 21st, 2013
Mr. Chair, as I said, the regulatory authority is independent.
I can assure Canadians that they have enough experts to meet their obligations.
BUSINESS OF SUPPLY May 21st, 2013
Mr. Chair, the NEB will have available an additional three-quarters of a million dollars for the fiscal year 2014 for a total of $2.25 million for public participation in its review of pipeline projects. The NEB has reallocated $3 million from 2012-13 to 2013-14 and for 2014-15 another $2.25 million for the trans mountain project.
BUSINESS OF SUPPLY May 21st, 2013
Mr. Chair, first just may I say that the NDP does not really care what the NEB concludes because that party comes to its conclusions prior to the scientific evaluations being done.