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FILEB ELECTR0NICALLY

Secietaiy to the National Eneigy Boaiu
National Eneigy Boaiu
S17 Tenth Avenue SW
Calgaiy Albeita T2R uA8

Attention: Ns. Sheii Young

Beai Ns. Young:

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The Inteivenoi, Naic Eliesen, wishes to withuiaw fiom the National Eneigy Boaiu heaiing
on the Tians Nountain Expansion Pioject (TNEP).

I applieu as an inteivenoi with expeitise to offei the Boaiu in goou faith that my time anu
peisonally incuiieu costs woulu be well spent in evaluating Tians Nountain's pioposal,
questioning the Pioponent, piepaiing eviuence commensuiate with my expeitise,
answeiing questions on that eviuence, anu pioviuing final aigument. 0nfoitunately, I have
come to the conclusion that the Boaiu, thiough its uecisions, is engageu in a public
ueception. Continueu involvement with this piocess is a waste of time anu effoit, anu
iepiesents a uisseivice to the pubic inteiest because it enuoises a fiauuulent piocess.

I have a piofessional backgiounu that incluues ovei 4u yeais of expeiience in senioi
executive positions in the eneigy sectoi of Canaua, anu an unueistanuing anu woiking
knowleuge of the manuate anu opeiations of the National Eneigy Boaiu, incluuing an
appieciation of the piinciples of natuial justice anu the iules anu piactices of quasi-juuicial
bouies in Canaua. I have ieacheu my conclusions baseu on my wealth of expeiience.

I iigouiously ievieweu Tians Nountain's application anu uevelopeu extensive questions in
the fiist iounu of Infoimation Requests. I was uismayeu when the oial cioss-examination
phasethat has seiveu as a ciitical pait of all pievious Section S2 oil pipeline heaiings
was inexplicably iemoveu fiom this heaiing. It is my expeiience that when a Pioponent
uoes not face the spectie of oial cioss-examination, theii wiitten iesponses to
inteiiogatoiies suffei fiom a lack of uetail anu accountability. Still, I was willing to see the
iesults of the Infoimation Request piocess the Boaiu piomiseu woulu be sufficient.

The unwillingness of Tians Nountain to auuiess most of my questions anu the Boaiu's
almost complete enuoisement of Tians Nountain's uecision has exposeu this piocess as
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ueceptive anu misleauing. Piopei anu piofessional public inteiest uue uiligence has been
fiustiateu, leauing me to the conclusion that this Boaiu has a pieueteimineu couise of
action to iecommenu appioval of the Pioject anu a stiong bias in favoui of the Pioponent.
In effect, this so-calleu public heaiing piocess has become a faice, anu this Boaiu a tiuly
inuustiy captuieu iegulatoi.

In auuition to gutting the oial-cioss examination featuie of a public heaiing piocess that
suppoits piopei questioning anu an auequate level of uue uiligence, theie aie othei Boaiu
uecisions that have been maue ovei the couise of this heaiing that ieflect a pie-ueteimineu
outcome.

The eviuence on the iecoiu shows that uecisions maue by the Boaiu at this heaiing aie
uismissive of Inteivenois. They ieflect a lack of iespect foi heaiing paiticipants, a ueep
eiosion of the stanuaius anu piactices of natuial justice that pievious Boaius have
iespecteu, anu an unuemociatic iestiiction of paiticipation by citizens, communities,
piofessionals, anu Fiist Nations eithei by iejecting then outiight oi failing to pioviue
auequate funuing to facilitate meaningful paiticipation.

The above is ieflecteu in the following:

1. The Boaiu electeu not to iequest assistance fiom the Inteivenois in the foimulation of
issues that woulu assist the Boaiu in the conuuct of the pioceeuings at the
commencement of this heaiing. This appioach iepiesents a uouble stanuaiu. Tians
Nountain iequesteu anu ieceiveu an amenument to the List of Issues in the eailiei Pait
Iv Toll Application. Also, this "no moie issues" position is completely a ieveisal of what
took place in the Noithein uateway Pioject heaiing when the Boaiu actively soliciteu
assistance fiom Inteivenois in the ueteimination of issues to be incluueu in the scope
of the ieview. The uateway Panel also incluueu thiee sets of Infoimation Requests (two
on initial eviuence anu one on ieply eviuence) anu an oial cioss-examination of the
eviuence.

2. uiven the highly technical natuie anu voluminous size of the TNEP application,
iequests fiom numeious paiticipants, incluuing municipal goveinments, enviionmental
oiganizations anu Fiist Nations weie maue asking the Boaiu to pioviue significant
auuitional time to piepaie Infoimation Requests. The Boaiu basically iejecteu these
iequests.

S. The Boaiu has been aleiteu to numeious instances wheie Tians Nountain stuuies by its
employees anu commissioneu consultants lack basic piofessional stanuaius of
uisclosuie, souice veiification, iefeiences, uata, assumptions anu methouology. It is
shocking that in a piocess such as this wheie uue uiligence is iequiieu on a majoi
capital pioject that the Boaiu has not helu Tians Nountain to a minimum piofessional
stanuaiu of accountability anu tianspaiency. This is especially ieflecteu in the Boaiu's
own wiitten Infoimation Requests to the Pioponent on the allegeu economic benefit
mateiials put foiwaiu. The Boaiu's veneei examination of the Pioponent's case is
ieflective of a uecision not too uig too ueeply foi feai the economic case may ciumble,
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oi a lack of economic, financial anu business acumen on behalf of the Boaiu to know
wheie anu how to uig. The Boaiu's Infoimation Requests ielateu to Tians Nountain's
economic case aie tantamount to a sweetheait wiitten cioss. Anu when basic business
questions fiom Inteivenois aie askeu to test the eviuence at a highei level of sciutiny,
Tians Nountain iefuses to answei them.

4. The Boaiu, in an unpieceuenteu fashion, has iejecteu the pieviously establisheu
piactice in Section S2 public heaiings on oil pipelines to pioviue foi oial cioss
examination on the eviuence submitteu at the heaiing. The Boaiu maintains that two
iounus of wiitten infoimation iequests is sufficient to test the eviuence. Even the
uoveinment of Canaua's Bepaitment of }ustice (B0}) has infoimeu the Boaiu that
eviuence given without cioss-examination shoulu be iejecteu. The B0} stateu "Canaua's
position is that cioss-examination is necessaiy to ensuie a piopei eviuentiaiy iecoiu."
Fuitheimoie, "cioss -examination seives a vital iole in testing the value of testimonial
eviuence. It assists in the ueteimination of cieuibility, assigning weight anu oveiall
assessment of the eviuentiaiy iecoiu. It has been teimeu 'the gieatest legal invention
evei inventeu foi the uiscoveiy of tiuth'.without cioss-examination the Boaiu will be
ieviewing only untesteu eviuence."

S. With the absence of oial cioss-examination of Tians Nountain executives anu theii
expeits, the only piocess now available to unueistanu anu test the application is
thiough wiitten Infoimation Requests. The National Eneigy Boaiu Rules of Piactice anu
Pioceuuie pioviues the NEB with the powei to uiiect a paity "to pioviue full anu
auequate" iesponses to Infoimation Requests, without which the heaiing piocess
cannot be meaningful anu cannot meet the iequiiements of pioceuuial faiiness anu
natuial justice.

Foi most Inteivenois submitting Infoimation Request #1, Tians Nountain has faileu to
iesponu anu auuiess the actual coie elements of the question. They have eithei pioviueu
non-iesponses, geneial statements, oi iefeiieu back to the inauequate infoimation in the
oiiginal application that gave iise to the question in the fiist place. In many instances
Tians Nountain has assumeu the iegulatoi's iole ueclaiing that the question askeu is
outsiue the List of Issues establisheu by the NEB.

uiven the Boaiu's lack of objectivity it is not suipiising that out of the appioximately
2uuu questions not answeieu by Tians Nountain that Inteivenois calleu on the Boaiu to
compel answeis, only S% weie alloweu by the Boaiu anu 9S% weie iejecteu.

The Boaiu hau stateu that the elimination of cioss-examination of the Pioponent's
eviuence can be evaluateu thiough the two scheuuleu Infoimation Requests. But we have
a Kafkaesque outcome. Tians Nountain iefuses to answei questions anu the Boaiu uoes
not compel them to uo so.

6. The Piovince of Biitish Columbia stateu that "Tians Nountain's failuie to file the
eviuence iequesteu by the Piovince in Infoimation Request No. 1 uenies the Boaiu, the
Piovince anu othei Inteivenois access to the infoimation iequiieu to fully unueistanu
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the iisk poseu by the Pioject, how Tians Nountain pioposes to mitigate such iisk anu
Tians Nountain's ability to effectively iesponu to a spill ielateu to the Pioject."

The Piovince of Biitish Columbia has the iesponsibility foi unueitaking uue uiligence on
behalf of the public tiust of Biitish Columbians. The 8u questions Tians Nountain
iefuseu to answeiwhich the Piovince believeu impoitant enough to ask the Boaiu foi
assistance anu compel Tians Nountain to answei,weie uenieu by the Boaiu.

The Boaiu has siueu with Tians Nountain uismissing the Piovince of BC's neeu foi
answeis in puisuit of its uuty to Biitish Columbians. The NEB's bias in suppoit of the
Pioponent is ieflecting pooily on the Piovince of BC in that it is unable to obtain
necessaiy answeis to conuuct its uue uiligence. Accoiuingly, it iaises the question as how
it is possible foi the Piovince of BC to continue to paiticipate in this heaiing piocess. The
Piovince shoulu cancel the Equivalency Agieement with the NEB on this pioject anu
unueitake its own enviionmental assessment as the only meaningful way in which it will
be able to effectively obtain the answeis it seeks.

The National Eneigy Boaiu is not fulfilling its obligation to ieview the Tians Nountain
Expansion Pioject objectively. Accoiuingly it is not only Biitish Columbians, but all
Canauians that cannot look to the Boaiu's conclusions as ielevant as to whethei oi not this
pioject ueseives a social license. Continueu involvement in the piocess enuoises this sham
anu is not in the public inteiest.

Youis tiuly,



Naic Eliesen
9294 Emeialu Biive
Whistlei BC
vuN 1B9

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