Improved public engagement through social media and consultations, inter-jurisdictional and cross-sector collaboration for spill prevention and response, as well as better engagement with First Nations – these are just some of the 24 recommendations made in a report examining crude transportation options to the West Coast.
In July 2013, B.C. and Alberta Premiers Christy Clark and Alison Redford announced the formation of a joint-provincial working group tasked with the shared goals of developing recommendations for opening new markets, expanding export opportunities, creating jobs and strengthening both provinces' economies through growth of the oil and gas sector. The report was based on a pre-established terms of reference.
According to the British Columbia/Alberta Deputy Ministers Working Group report, the recommendations and associated actions form a framework agreement to be developed by both provinces over the next year.
Steve Carr, deputy minister for B.C.'s natural gas development ministry and Grant Sprague, Alberta's deputy minister of energy, led the task force compiling the report, which included five working teams, each focusing on a specific area of concern.
The responsible development and public engagement working team focused on developing and identifying tools that help effectively engage the public, along with enhancing the understanding of the social, economic and environmental values for government and industry regarding projects.
The team's recommendations include the promotion of initiatives to increase public energy literacy regarding oil transportation, production and impacts on daily life. The team also recommended promoting partnerships between industry and First Nations.
Public engagement with affected communities – especially First Nations – and incorporating input and traditional knowledge is also a recommendation, as is the need to increase social media use and online dialoguing to educate the public and foster discussion, as well as ensure regulatory decision makers and proponents respect the social and environmental concerns of stakeholders.
The marine and terrestrial spillage working team outlined the elements of what it sees as a world-class regime for spill prevention, preparedness and response.
The team's recommendations include the establishment of an assistant deputy minister-level federal/provincial spills steering committee as a forum to maximize cross-sector collaboration and mutual aid between marine, pipeline, rail and trucking sectors.
Committee participants would include representatives from B.C. and Alberta, as well as Natural Resources Canada, Transport Canada and Environment Canada. This forum would recommend fiscal resourcing of spill preparedness and prevention.
Secondly, the team suggests establishing a permanent marine and terrestrial B.C.-Alberta government spills working group to build on, and continue sharing, information.
Thirdly, the team recommended that B.C. and Alberta jointly explore research co-ordination, starting with a meeting that was to be organized for last month exploring the process for research co-ordination in relation to spills. Discussion topics for this meeting were to include: Alberta Innovates and how Alberta manages its research and innovation file; inventory of ongoing and gap analysis; and a jurisdictional scan of governance options for research co-ordination.
Fourthly, the team recommended that B.C. and Alberta continue joint consultations with industry and stakeholders regarding policies and regulatory changes necessary for achieving and maintaining spill prevention, response and recovery in B.C.
This includes establishing a permanent advisory committee of industry and stakeholders to provide continued spill prevention and response advice and co-ordination beyond the completion of current B.C. projects, as well as the two provinces and feds establishing and implementing a common geographic response plan framework for B.C.
Fifthly, the team recommended that B.C. and Alberta continue consultations with the federal government and stakeholders on policies and regulatory changes necessary for achieving world leading marine spill prevention, response and recovery in B.C.
This includes: B.C. bringing Alberta into ongoing dialogue with Transport Canada and the Canadian Coast Guard regarding changes to the marine spill regime; a B.C.-Alberta joint review of the Tanker Safety Panel report; a B.C.-Alberta gap analysis of federal recommendations on marine spill prevention and response; and B.C. should be active in the Zalinski recovery through Unified Command.
Central to the First Nations working team's goals was to recognize the role Aboriginal groups could play in natural resource export projects by recognizing the unique economic opportunity that is open to First Nations, while also appreciating their concerns.
The team recommended that B.C., the feds and industry all work to build strong and enduring relationships with First Nations potentially impacted by energy projects, which requires clarification of the various parties' expectations.
Firstly, this requires development of "First Nations engagement principles for energy development and export," identifying the provinces' expectations of proponents for everything from employment, training, education and service opportunities, to financial support, information sharing and protocols and equity.
Secondly, this requires consolidation of B.C.'s and Alberta's "guidelines for proponents" documents, as both jurisdictions currently have their own individual guidelines.
Thirdly, this requires further identification of future requests and recommendations to the federal government, which will be subject to internal review by both B.C. and Alberta.
The transportation working team analyzed both pipeline and rail as options for moving energy resources to the West Coast, recommending a detailed critical analysis of transportation infrastructure for ports, rail and roads.
To be completed over the next 18 months, the report will include an analysis of demand on the transportation trade network associated with expected energy products and associated project cargo, analysis of demand on the transportation network associated with Alberta's expected destined heavy project cargo, as well as an assessment of current transportation network capacity and identification of multi-model transportation network deficiencies.
The report will also identify the opportunities and implications of maximizing the utility of the existing multi-model transportation network, determine potential network improvements, and develop an implementation strategy and governance approach.
The fiscal and economic benefits working team developed principals aimed at fostering continued discussion on sharing the benefits of connecting regional energy resources to the global energy market.
Among its suggestions, the group recommended that provinces agree that B.C. has the right to negotiate with industry on appropriate economic benefits, as well as that Alberta's royalties are not to be part of negotiations. Further, B.C. and Alberta should examine specific infrastructure needs and governance for accessing the West Coast, and the provinces should negotiate with the feds to determine financial necessity for achieving access.
The group recommended that B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan collaborate on a western Canadian approach to energy market development, and that the B.C. and Alberta deputy minister working group and its teams remain active over the next six months to a year in order to achieve all 24 of the recommendations in the report prepared for the premiers.
