Denis Coderre calls for suspension of Energy East hearings over Charest affair

Public hearings into the proposed Energy East pipeline were compromised when federal energy officials met with a former premier lobbying for the company backing the pipeline, says Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre.

Coderre said there is a "major perception problem"following revelations ex-Quebec premier JeanCharestmet the chairman and two commissioners on the National Energy Boardwhile working forTransCanada, the company heading the project.

The NEB says it wasn't aware of Charest'srelationship with TransCanada when they met with him.

"I'm not sure of the impartiality of the process," he told reporters late Thursday.

"I think they should take a break and look seriously at this [issue] ...The only thing that we'll see in the media is questions about the process, and I don't think that's helpful."

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Coderrehas repeatedly questioned whether thepotential environmental risksoutweigh its possible economic benefits.

He is scheduled to speakMonday on behalf of theMontreal Metropolitan Communitywhen the environmental hearings begin in Montreal.

The $15.7-billion Energy East pipeline would carry 1.1 millionbarrels a day of western crude as far east as Saint John,serving domestic refineries and international customers.

The National Observer, an online news site,revealed earlier this monththat the NEB's chairman and two of its commissioners metCharestin January 2015while he was acting as a consultant toTransCanadaand talked about the pipeline.

Marc-Andre Plouffe, an NEB director at its Montreal office, has said the meeting was part ofefforts to learn how to engage with the province.

He saidthe federal regulator met with Quebecrepresentatives from a wide range of groups. These included representatives from environmental groups as well as Coderre and Charest.

Plouffe said the board wasn't aware of any ties Charest had with any particular company when the meeting took place.

Comments in writing only

Environmental activists, however, insist the meeting was inappropriate.

A collection of36 environmental groups havecalled on theTrudeaugovernment to halt the NEB hearings.

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And, earlier this week, the Vancouver-basedEcojustice asked the energy board in a formal motiontorecusethe two commissioners.

In aletter posted on itswebsite, the NEBsaid it would consider the motionand invited others to submit comments.

But it said it won't allow participants to talk about the issue during presentations.

If the hearings aren't postponed,Coderresaid he will raise questions about the meeting withCharestduring his own presentation on Monday.

StevenGuilbeaultofEquiterre, which was among the groups that met with the NEB commissioners,also arguedthe hearings should be put on hold.

"We will continue to make the case that there are many problems, and they should be suspended until we ensure that we have commissioners that are independent to run those hearings," he told CBC'sDaybreak.

A coalition of Quebec union and management groups, for its part, came out in support of the project on Friday.

In a statement, the groupsaid the project would help stimulate economic growth in the province.

"The coalition believes that this project represents yet another opportunity to leverage the expertise of workers and businesses in Quebec's construction industry," the group said.

'Significant environmental threats': Coderre

TheMontreal Metropolitan Community, which includes theneighbouring cities of Laval and Longueuil,came out against the pipeline earlier this year.

"We are against it because it still represents significant environmental threats and too few economic benefits for greater Montreal," Coderresaid in January.

The NEB hearings began earlier this month in New Brunswick.

Hearings are scheduled to run in Montreal from Aug. 29 to Sept. 2 and inQuebecCity from Oct. 3 to 7.

The board must submit its report by March 2018 after which the federal cabinet will have the final say on the project.

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