The Joint Review Panel that is holding hearings into the Enbridge Northern Gateway project says there may not be eight days of hearings in Prince Rupert as originally scheduled.
The panel was to be in Prince Rupert from February 16-24, with no hearing scheduled for February 19, but a panel spokesperson said some of the intervenors scheduled to speak in Prince Rupert have requested a visit to their community instead of solely focussing on Prince Rupert.
“The Gitxaala Nation in its 6 October 2011 letter indicated that it would want to split its oral evidence time between Prince Rupert and Lach Klan. The details on this split have not yet been finalized with the intervenor, but could impact the number of hearing days in Prince Rupert,” explained Annie Roy, communications manager for the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency.
“The Panel Secretariat is contacting the intervenors that are providing oral evidence to determine scheduling and adjustments may have to be made to the schedule...Changes to the already-published schedule will be announced as soon as possible.”
While the panel may not be coming to Prince Rupert for over a month, hearings get underway in Kitamaat Village at the Haisla Recreation Centre tomorrow and continue to Wednesday with hearings beginnning at nine a.m. each day. The closest the panel will come before arriving in Prince Rupert will be in Terrace on Thursday for an afternoon of hearings beginning at one p.m. at the Sportsplex.