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Mackenzie Gas Project faces legal threat Canadian cabinet minister believes Joint Review Panel can finish scheduled work by December, but discloses he is seeking ‘legal advice’ Gary Park For Petroleum News
Jim Prentice has ranged from cheerful optimist to stern taskmaster in almost three years as the Canadian government cabinet minister assigned to steer the Mackenzie Gas Project through the approval jungle.
Less than a month after suggesting the project has “never been closer,” he was back on the warpath March 16, telling a Calgary business audience he has “sought legal advice” on how to force the hand of a Joint Review Panel, charged with overseeing the environmental and socio-economic impacts of the MGP.
But he declined to say what legal options might be pursued.
However, Prentice confirmed that the JRP’s work has now cost more than C$19 million, compared to the original budget of C$6.8 million set in 2004.
The billings have now reached C$750,000, at the standard federal rate of C$650 a day, for panel chairman Robert Hornal, who told the Globe and Mail he does not believe he is overpaid or underpaid.
Hornal conceded the panel has “taken much longer than we anticipated doing the job.”
Having earlier voiced his displeasure at the plodding progress of the JRP, Prentice argued the panel’s mandate was determined by the Liberal government, before it was defeated in a January 2006 election.
Original projection 24 months The normally mild-mannered Prentice revealed some of his feelings, when he said, “Originally, as I recall, the JRP was supposed to take 24 months. It’s now into its fifth year.”
He told reporters that he has tried through the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency to remain updated on the spending, the regulatory work that is ongoing and “the best information we have from an arm’s length distance about the progress they’re making towards the December report.”
At the same time he dangled the threat of legal action, Prentice once more said the project, “which is something our country has worked on for 40 years, has never been closer. The process, while it has been slow, is at this point within months of conclusion.”
Feelings boiled over in December, when the JRP indicated it would need another year to complete its recommendations to Canada’s National Energy Board.
Prentice, who said in January he expected the JRP to deliver its report no later than May, said March 16 there is no indication that the panel will fail to meet its December target date.
That left unanswered questions about why he felt the need at this point to raise the legal option.
However, he did say that “most, if not all, of the aboriginal issues relating to the project will be resolved (by December);we’ll be in a position to deal with the environmental issues and we will be left simply with questions about the fiscal framework that will apply to the pipeline.”
Assessment procedures changed Prentice also told his Calgary audience the Canadian government has changed the environmental assessment procedures for infrastructure projects funded through a C$12 billion stimulus program.
He said projects such as roads and bridges will no longer have to face separate municipal, provincial and federal reviews to ensure “rapid deployment” of infrastructure investments over the next two years.
The new rules “will focus on our resources” by cutting down on “unnecessary” assessments for projects the government knows will not have any environmental consequences.
An estimated 2,000 projects could be exempted, eliminating 90 percent of reviews, government sources have said.
But Prentice has given no hint that he plans to extend the changes to megaprojects such as the MGP.
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