Natural Resources committee  We have strongly indicated our support throughout the drafting of the bill to this point. Like a wide spectrum of stakeholders, we have the privilege of being consulted. We are eager to see it passed, and we would very much look forward to continuing consultation in terms of drafting the actual regulations.

Natural Resources committee  Ultimately, whether it be Keystone...and I would suggest that the other projects, which are hoping to flow either east or west, are even more important to us because the reality is that we are currently suffering a loss in the order of $50 million per day in terms of full value for our resources that are flowing to one single market—albeit to our good neighbour to the south, which is enjoying that subsidy on Canada's behalf at the moment.

Natural Resources committee  I'm sorry I'm not familiar with the trend lines in their estimates. I think it is best that you perhaps engage with NEB staff to that extent. As I did say a moment ago, as these additional responsibilities come to the NEB, clearly there's to be a requirement for additional funding especially for greater flexibility in terms of how they're able to attract and retain highly qualified staff in a very competitive environment even during a downturn.

Natural Resources committee  Thank you for the question, Mr. Choquette. I would say first, having had the privilege of serving at the National Energy Board as the chief operating officer in a previous life, that the NEB is an independent employer. There is a degree of independence about it. The finances that it receives for its operations are approximately 90% cost recovered from industry, so I think you would find that industry, as I said in my testimony, clearly recognizes the benefit of a strong regulator and how how essential it is.

Natural Resources committee  I do believe that this act will complement the safety record and very strong commitment to zero incidents that the CEOs of the association have committed to with the work they are undertaking, because it is the right thing to do, around the integrity first program, very akin to the responsible care initiative, and a sincere desire on their part to do better than simply being compliant with regulations.

Natural Resources committee  I think what you would find from the lessons of that particular circumstance—I'm not fully familiar with the details—and that you're going to see in this day and age, as you would have seen in Manitoba most recently with the gas situation that evolved, is that the company is on the ground immediately.

Natural Resources committee  My experience in a previous life, while at the National Energy Board as the chief operating officer and also now while now serving at the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association, is that the companies absolutely step up. I could not agree more with your point, that the member companies, which I have the privilege of representing, share in the desire to ensure that we operate the safest possible pipeline transmission system that will benefit our nation.

Natural Resources committee  If I might use “confidence” as being somewhat synonymous with “trust” as a concept and say we're working very aggressively from the viewpoint of taking a look at that concept—credibility, reliability, and intimacy, be it relationships over self-interest.... From that aspect of relationships, it's vital that our companies have very strong relationships with everyone with whom they come in contact, be it all Canadians, with first nations absolutely inclusive within that.

Natural Resources committee  I'm not sure what you mean, sir, in terms of your reference to security standards.

Natural Resources committee  I would say that terrible incident is what we refer to as a defining moment. Many industries have them, be it the Space Shuttle Challenger accident or the terrible accident of two 747s colliding in Tenerife. That, like the tragedy of Lac-Mégantic, was a defining moment for the pipeline industry.

Natural Resources committee  We support the bill. The pipeline industry as a whole represents some 25,000 jobs across Canada, and $100-billion worth of revenues to our government from hydrocarbons moving through it on an annual basis. It is absolutely key to many of the social programs, with the industry paying $1.1 billion in property and corporate taxes last year that also served to fund countless social programs and the well-being of individual communities....

Natural Resources committee  I'll start first, sir, with your question on “release”. When we talk about that, I would say I'm not confident that it is defined within the regulation. When we talk about release by way of a definition, we talk about any unintentional release, un échappement of a product that was not intended on the part of the operating company.

Natural Resources committee  I'm sorry. I do not have exact numbers at my disposal either. I would be glad to undertake to get you some representative figures. I can say, if you look, for example, at the Kinder Morgan spill that occurred in 2011, I believe, which was the result of a third party strike on that pipeline, the company dealt with all of its obligations without hesitation whatsoever and it has remediated all of the damage that was done, both damage to personal property such as homes and any minor damage that occurred on the waterfront.

Natural Resources committee  The figures we would speak to routinely would say, as you would have seen in my submission, that between 2002 and 2013 there were on average 3.75 incidents per year. When we're talking about pipelines, like oil pipelines, which is really what this bill seeks to address, that number was just under 2 per year throughout the period 2002 to 2013.

Natural Resources committee  It's important to understand that most of those spills were extremely small in nature. To reach the threshold of what we call a significant event, a spill greater than 50 barrels of oil, in only two instances were there really substantial spills throughout that entire period. One of the spills that occurred between 2002 and 2013 constituted over 50% of the total volume.