A filing by Enbridge with the National Energy Board is asking the Joint Review Panel to limit the amount of time people can speak at the Prince Rupert hearings, in hopes of completing the hearings this week in one day instead of two.
"In the Community Hearings to date, in Northern Gateway's opinion, the majority of the oral evidence from non-Aboriginal participants has not met the criteria set out by the Panel in Procedural Direction #4. Many of the submissions have been in the nature of argument, or have addressed matters that were properly the subject of written evidence. There will be an opportunity to provide argument to the Panel in due course," read the February 13 filing, noting they expect Gary Coons, Nathan Cullen, the United Fisherman and Allied Worker's Union and the T. Buck Suzuki Environmental Foundation to be among the non-Aboriginal people presenting.
"To further assist the parties and the efficiency of the process, Northern Gateway requests that the Panel consider limiting the time for oral evidence that is allocated to non-Aboriginal participants to 10 minutes each, unless the intervenor is able to justify additional time in accordance with Procedural Direction #4. Northern Gateway believes that this would allow the hearing in Prince Rupert to conclude on Friday, February 17th, while still enabling intervenors to provide oral evidence."