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Greenpeace; Environmental Defence; Équiterre; Leadnow.ca; AQLPA; Ecology Action Centre; Canadian Youth Climate Coalition; Nature Québec; Council of Canadians; Ecology Ottawa; 350.org; Manitoba Energy Justice Coalition; Action environnement basses Laurentides; Friends of Temagami; Association de propriétaires privés, agricoles (acéricoles) et forestiers; West Coast Environmental Law; Association; Citizens Environmental Alliance; Citoyens au Courant; Foire ÉCOSPHÈRE; Greenspiration;
For Our Grandchildren; Green 13; Living Oceans Society; Manitoba Energy Justice Coalition; Mouvement citoyen Alerte Pétrole Rive-Sud; Northwatch; Oil Change International; Polaris Institute; PEACE-New Brunswick; Regroupement citoyen contre les bitumineux et pour le développement durable; Saint John Citizens Coalition for Clean Air; Sierra Club Canada Foundation; Stand (formally ForestEthics); Stop Oléoduc Outaouais (SOO); Conservation Council of New Brunswick; Temiskaming Environmental Action Committee; Nipissing Environmental Watch; Climate Action Now; Coalition vigilance Oléoducs; Citizens Climate Lobby Canada; The Aboriginal People's Council, Local 10;
Regroupement vigilance hydrocarbures Québec; Conseil régional FTQ du Montréal métropolitain; GRAME - Groupe de recherche appliquée en macroécologie; STOP oléoduc Île d'Orléans; Canadian Interfaith Fast for the Climate; ClimateFast; Canadian Unitarians for Social Justice; Oléoduc Laval en amont (OLEA); Eau Secours! Coalition pour une gestion responsable de l'eau; Association madelininienne pour la sécurité énergétique et environnementale; Fondation Rivières;
The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau
Prime Minister of Canada
Office of the Prime Minister 80 Wellington Street Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2
September 7, 2016
Dear Prime Minister,
We represent organizations who believe that the National Energy Board (NEB) members who met with former premier Charest should recuse themselves from the review of the proposed Energy East pipeline.
Many of our groups have expressed this opinion directly to the NEB, but we are writing to you today to put the controversy surrounding the National Energy Board into context. In short, we are calling on you to overhaul the NEB before the federal government decides how to proceed with the proposed Kinder Morgan and Energy East pipelines, not after. This is not the first time that many of us have made this argument to you, but the breakdown in the Energy East review process and the obvious failure of pipeline proponents to secure social license for these ill-conceived projects presents an opportunity for you to show leadership.
At the end of the day, the NEB's problem is not only that Board members acted inappropriately by meeting with Mr. Charest, but that the NEB suffers from so many short-comings and conflicts of interest that the institution fundamentally lacks legitimacy. Of course the board members who acted inappropriately should recuse themselves, but this will not solve the credibility gap that is plaguing the pipeline review process in Canada. It is unreasonable to expect people whose drinking water is at risk to politely follow the rules of a process that is both a farce and a foregone conclusion. It is unreasonable to ask people who are deeply concerned about the growing climate change emergency to trust in a review process that your own government has acknowledged is inadequate.
The NEB process is broken. This is clear and you are now taking steps to fix it by initiating a wholesale review, but the interim measures that you have put in place do not solve the underlying problem. The process currently being used to review the Kinder Morgan pipeline did not overcome the failures of the original NEB review, and the Energy East process is obviously deeply flawed. That is why we are calling on you to address the crisis of confidence that surrounds the NEB before you decide on the Kinder Morgan and Energy East pipelines, not after. We are calling on you to put aside the fundamentally flawed work that has been done by the NEB to date. Overhaul the NEB, renew the confidence of Canadians in the federal government's pipeline review process and, only after this has been accomplished, assess these projects in an atmosphere that is not plagued by the legacy of the Harper era. Doing this will be seen by the people of Canada as an indication that your stated commitments to Indigenous rights and a safe climate are sincere and that you are prepared to honour and defend the water, land and climate on which we all depend and cherish.
It is in the interest of all stakeholders that these projects go through a credible review. That cannot happen until your government completes its overhaul of the NEB.
Canada is at a crossroads, but this is not a moment that demands a ruling from an illegitimate National Energy Board on the misconduct of its board members. It is a moment that demands political leadership from a government that claims to be committed to change. We are asking you to show that leadership.
Sincerely,
Sharon Flatt
Aboriginal People's Council, Local 10
Céline Lachapelle
Action environnement basses Laurentides (AEBL)
France Lamonde
Association de propriétaires privés, agricoles (acéricoles) et forestiers
André Bélisle
Association québécoise de lutte contre la pollution atmosphérique (AQLPA)
Marianne Papillon
Association madelininienne pour la sécurité énergétique et environnementale (AMSÉE)
Margaret Rao
Canadian Unitarians for Social Justice
Joy Kennedy
Canadian Interfaith Fast for the Climate
Kiki Wood
Canadian Youth Climate
Coalition/Coalition canadienne des jeunes pour le climat
Cathy Orlando
Citizens' Climate Lobby Canada
Derek Coronado
Citizens Environmental Alliance
Katherine Massam
Citoyens au Courant
Patricia Warwick
Climate Action Now
Lyn Adamson
ClimateFast
Vincent Marchione
Coalition vigilance Oléoducs (CoVO)
Marc Édouard Joubert
Conseil régional FTQ du Montréal métropolitain
Lois Corbett
Conservation Council of New Brunswick
Daniel Cayley-Daoust
Council of Canadians
Martine Chatelain
Eau Secours! Coalition pour une gestion responsable de l'eau
Stephen Thomas
Ecology Action Centre
Graham Saul
Ecology Ottawa
Keith Brooks
Environmental Defence
Steven Guilbeault
Équiterre
Éric Ferland
Foire ÉCOSPHÈRE
Peter Jones
For Our Grandchildren 4RG
Bob Olajos
Friends of Temagami
Catherine Huard
Fondation Rivières
Douglas Nadler
Georgian Triangle Earth Day Celebration
Jonathan Théorêt
GRAME - Groupe de recherche appliquée en macroécologie
Patrick Bonin
Greenpeace
Angela Bischoff
Greenspiration
Rita Bijon
Green 13
Rodrigo Samayoa
Leadnow.ca
Karen Wristen
Living Oceans Society
Alex Paterson
Manitoba Energy Justice Coalition
André Lafrance
Mouvement citoyen Alerte Pétrole Rive-Sud
Christian Simard
Nature Québec
Peggy Walsh Craig
Nipissing Environmental Watch
Martin Poirier
NON à une marée noire dans le Saint-Laurent
Brennain Lloyd
Northwatch
Adam Scott
Oil Change International
Luc Falardeau
Oléoduc Laval en amont (OLEA)
Sharon Murphy
PEACE-New Brunswick
Tony Clarke
Polaris Institute
Carole Dupuis
Regroupement vigilance hydrocarbures Québec
Martin Poirier
Prospérité Sans Pétrole
Andrée Chartier
Regroupement citoyen contre les bitumineux et pour le développement durable
Gordon W. Dalzell
Saint John Citizens Coalition for Clean Air
Gretchen Fitzgerald
Sierra Club Canada Foundation
Sven Biggs
Stand (formally ForestEthics)
Elizabeth Frazer
Stop Energy East (North Bay)
Donald Kellough
STOP oléoduc Île d'Orléans
Réal Lalande
Stop Oléoduc Outaouais (SOO)
Karine Audet
Stop oléoduc bellechasse-levis
Yvan Croteau
Stop Oléoduc Montmagny l'Islet
Anne-Céline Guyon
Stop oléoduc Portneuf Saint-Augustin
Kathy Hakola
Temiskaming Environmental Action Committee
Katie Krelove
Toronto 350.org
Jessica Clogg
West Coast Environmental Law Association
Cam Fenton
350.org
