Federal Canadian Natural Resources Standing Committee (RNNR):
Deep Shale Gas Study
(Updated March 4, 2011)

On October 7, 2010, a week before University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs held the first public debate on deep shale gas development in Canada, Canada's Standing Committee on Natural Resources began a study on "Energy Security in Canada". Since November, 2010, the Committee has held a series of twelve (12) meetings, which are continuing into this year, 2011.

The Committee has called technical/stakeholder witnesses to its study, which has included the controversial subject of deep shale gas exploration and development in Canada, the first study of its kind by a Committee of Parliament. The minutes and evidence of these meetings are available as downloadable documents on the federal Committee's website:
http://www2.parl.gc.ca/CommitteeBusiness/CommitteeHome.aspx?Cmte=RNNR&Language=E&
Mode=1&Parl=40&Ses=3

This link may have some of the previous audio recordings from the Committee meetings. However, all audio recordings can be found on the following link:

http://parlvu.parl.gc.ca/ParlVu/UpcomingEvents.aspx?lang=en

(The Committee recordings, under RNNR, are found in the calendar to the top left on this link, where month and date can be chosen. Refer to the meeting dates at the bottom of this page for specific meetings)

Only the 32 separate documents (Minutes & Evidence) associated with this study from October 2010 to February 17, 2011, have been combined into one, word-searchable, pdf document in English and French, available on this website. (The remaining documents for March, 2011 will be posted as the evidence is published on the Committee's website.) On the first page of this document are web links to the Committee and other Committees of the federal government.
> Click this link to download the pdf document (english)<
(file size - 2.227 Megabytes)

> Click this link to download the French version <
(file size - 2.548 Megabytes)

StandingCommittee
On February 3rd, 2011, Will Koop, Coordinator of the BC Tap Water Alliance, appeared before the Committee in Ottawa, Ontario, with a written presentation and answered questions by Committee members. For a copy of his submission, and the accompanying press release, the following links:

February 3, 2011 written presentation

February 3, 2011 press release

A technical witness, Ben Parfitt, a British Columbian researcher, as part of the December 2, 2010 Committee hearing, has also been featured on this website, in the form of a YouTube video.

YouTube link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wu472CVGo7A

At the beginning of this video are featured the twelve members of this Committee, six of which are representatives from the Conservative Party.
LIST OF WITNESSES APPEARING BEFORE THE FEDERAL STANDING COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES (November to December, 2010,
February 2011)
THEME: ENERGY SECURITY IN CANADA

1. November 4, 2010 - Meeting No. 30

Witnesses:
•    Newfoundland and Labrador Oil and Gas Industries Association: Robert Cadigan, President and Chief Executive Officer.
•    Ecojustice Canada: William Amos, Director, University of Ottawa - Ecojustice Environmental Law Clinic.
•    Department of Natural Resources:
Mark Corey, Assistant Deputy Minister, Energy Sector;
Jeff Labonté, Director General, Petroleum Resources Branch;
Eric Landry, Director, Frontier Lands Management Division, Petroleum Resources Branch;
Chantal Maheu, Director General, Energy Policy Branch.
•    Fish, Food and Allied Workers: Earle McCurdy, President.


2. November 18, 2010 - Meeting No. 32

Witnesses:
•    Questerre Energy Corporation: Michael Binnion, President and Chief Executive Officer


3. November 23, 2010 - Meeting No. 33

Witnesses:
•    Talisman Energy Inc.:
Reg Manhas, Vice-President, Corporate Affairs;
James Fraser, Senior Vice-President, Shale Division, North American Operations.
•    Canadian Society for Unconventional Gas: Kevin Heffernan, Vice-President.
•    Encana Corporation: Richard Dunn, Vice-President, Canadian Division, Regulatory and Government Relations.
•    Department of Natural Resources:
David Boerner, Acting Assistant Deputy Minister, Earth Sciences Sector;
Marc D'Iorio, Director General, Director General's Office;
Denis Lavoie, Research Geoscientist, Earth Sciences Sector - Georesources and Regional Geology.


4. November 25, 2010 - Meeting No. 34

Witnesses:
•    Suncor Energy Inc.: Gordon Lambert, Vice-President, Sustainable Development.
•    Petrobank Energy and Resources Ltd.: John D. Wright, President and Chief Executive Officer.
•    Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers: David Collyer, President.
•    University of Calgary: David Keith, Professor, Institute for Sustainable Energy, Environment and Economy.
•    Pembina Institute: Simon Dyer, Policy Director.
•    Canadian Association of Energy and Pipeline Landowner Associations:
David Core, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer;
John Goudy, Policy Advisor.


5. November 30, 2010 - Meeting No. 35

Witnesses:
•    Syncrude: Marcel R. Coutu, Chairman.
•    Environmental Defence: Gillian McEachern, Program Manager, Climate and Energy.
•    Alberta Federation of Labour: Gil McGowan, President.


6. December 2, 2010 - Meeting No. 36

Witnesses:
•    Government of Alberta: Ronald Liepert, Minister of Energy, Department of Energy.
•    As an individual: Ben Parfitt.
•    Montreal Economic Institute:
Jasmin Guénette, Vice-President;
Vincent Geloso, Economist.
•    Conservation Council of New Brunswick Inc.:
David Coon, Executive Director;
Stephanie Merrill, Freshwater Protection Program Coordinator.
•    Atlantic Institute for Market Studies: Barbara Pike, Vice-President.


7. December 7, 2010 - Meeting No. 37

Witnesses:
•    Oil Sands Developers Group: Don Thompson, President.
•    Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation: Lionel Lepine, Traditional Environmental Knowledge Coordinator, Industry Relations.
•    As an individual: Ezra Levant.
•    Alberta Innovates Technology Futures: Ian Potter, Chief Operating Officer.
•    As an individual: Vivian Krause.
•    HTC Purenergy Inc.: Jessie Inman, Executive Director, Corporate Development.


8. December 9, 2010 - Meeting No. 38

Witnesses:
•    Northern Gateway Alliance: Colin Kinsley, Chairman.
•    Coastal First Nations: Art Sterritt, Executive Director, Great Bear Initiative.
•    United Fishermen and Allied Workers' Union - Canadian Auto Workers: Arnold Nagy, President, Local 31.
•    Canadian Energy Pipeline Association: Brenda Kenny, President and Chief Executive Officer.
•    International Ship-Owners Alliance of Canada Inc.: Kaity Arsoniadis-Stein, President and Secretary-General.


9. December 14, 2010 - Meeting No. 39

Witnesses:
•    BC Oil and Gas Commission: Eric Alexander Ferguson, Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer.
•    Alberta's Industrial Heartland Association:
Neil Shelly, Executive Director;
Jana Tolmie-Thompson, Economic Development Officer.
•    University of Ottawa: Serge Coulombe, Professor, Department of Economics.
•    Canadian Energy Research Institute: Peter Howard, Pr


10. February 1, 2011 - Meeting No. 40

Witnesses:
  • Fraser Institute: Gerry Angevine, Senior Economist, Global Resource Centre. 
  • As an individual: Anthony R. Ingraffea, Dwight C. Baum Professor of Engineering, Cornell University.
  • Government of New Brunswick: Bruce Northrup, Minister, Department of Natural Resources.

11. February 3, 2011 - Meeting No. 41

Witnesses:
  • Canadian Gas Association: Timothy M. Egan, President and Chief Executive Officer. 
  • Association québécoise de lutte contre la pollution atmosphérique: Patrick Bonin, Campaigner climate-energy; Thomas Welt, Co-lead Energy Committee, Nature Québec.
  • British Columbia Tap Water Alliance: Will Koop, Coordinator.
  • Apache Canada Ltd: Timothy Wall, President; Natalie Poole-Moffatt, Manager, Public and Goverment Affairs.

12. February 8, 2011 - Meeting No. 42

Witnesses:
  • As an individual: Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Former Chair of the Oilsands Advisory Panel
  • ConocoPhillips Canada: Joe Marushack, President
  • ARC Financial Corp.: Peter Tertzakian, Chief Energy Economist and Managing Director

13. February 10, 2011 - Meeting No. 43

Witnesses:
  • Équiterre: Steven Guilbeault, Co-founder and Deputy Executive Director 
  • Laricina Energy Ltd.: Glen C. Schmidt, President and Chief Executive Officer 
  • Indigenous Environmental Network: Clayton Thomas-Muller, Tar Sands Campaigner

14. February 15, 2011 - Meeting No. 44

Witnesses:
  • Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Business Group: Garry Flett, Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer
  •  Spectra Energy Transmission West: Douglas P. Bloom, President
  •  Cenovus Energy Inc.: Jim Campbell, Vice-President, Government Affairs and Corporate Responsibility; Jon Mitchell, Team Lead, Environment Policy and Strategy

15. February 17, 2011 - Meeting No. 45

Witnesses:
  • Alberta Innovates - Energy and Environment Solutions: Eddy Isaacs, Chief Executive Officer
  • Mackenzie Valley Aboriginal Pipeline LP: Robert Reid, President
  • Alberta Chamber of Resources: Brad Anderson, Executive Director; Larry Staples, Project Manager; Task Force on Resource Development and the Economy
  • Town of Bay Bulls: Harold Mullowney, Mayor; Ted Lomond, Executive Director, Newfoundland and Labrador Regional Economic Development Association

16. March 1, 2011 - Meeting No. 46

Witnesses:
  • Chevron Canada Resources: Jeff Lehrmann, President.
  • Government of Newfoundland and Labrador: Hon. Shawn Skinner, Minister of Natural Resources and Minister Responsible for the Forestry and Agrifoods Agency, Department of Natural Resources.
  • Gitxsan Nation: Elmer Derrick, Hereditary Chief.
  • Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines: John Carruthers, President.