CANADA ENERGY REGULATOR RÉGIE DE L’ÉNERGIE DU CANADA Hearing / L'audience GH-001-2019 NOVA Gas Transmission Ltd. Edson Mainline Expansion Project NOVA Gas Transmission Ltd. Projet d’agrandissement du réseau principal à Edson VOLUME 2 Hearing held at L’audience tenue à Holiday Inn and Suites 33 Petrolia Drive Red Deer, Alberta January 22, 2020 Le 22 janvier 2020 International Reporting Inc. Ottawa, Ontario (613) 748-6043 © Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada 2020 © Sa Majesté du Chef du Canada 2020 as represented by the Canada Energy Regulator représentée par la Régie de l’énergie du Canada This publication is the recorded verbatim transcript Cette publication est un compte rendu textuel des and, as such, is taped and transcribed in either of the délibérations et, en tant que tel, est enregistrée et official languages, depending on the languages transcrite dans l’une ou l’autre des deux langues spoken by the participant at the public hearing. officielles, compte tenu de la langue utilisée par le participant à l’audience publique. Printed in Canada Imprimé au Canada Transcript HEARING / L’AUDIENCE GH-001-2019 IN THE MATTER OF NOVA Gas Transmission Ltd. Edson Mainline Expansion Project HEARING LOCATION/LIEU DE L’AUDIENCE Hearing held in Red Deer, Alberta, Wednesday, January 22, 2020 Audience tenue à Red Deer (Alberta), mercredi, le 22 janvier 2020 COMMISSION PANEL/COMITÉ D'AUDIENCE DE LA COMMISSION Stephania Luciuk Presiding Commissioner/Commissaire présidant l’audience Wilma Jacknife Commissioner/Commissaire Damien Côté Commissioner/Commissaire Transcript GH-001-2019 APPEARANCES/COMPARUTIONS (i) Applicant/Demandeur NOVA Gas Transmission Ltd. - Mr. Matthew Ducharme - Mr. Justin Fontaine - Ms. Carrie Dunn - Mr. Matt Quail - Mr. Matthew Watson Intervenors/Intervenants Environment and Climate Change Canada - Ms. Cari-Lynn Epp Piikani Nation Mr. Ira Provost Elder Pat Provost Elder Shirlee Crow Shoe Elder Marvin Murray Canada Energy Regulator/Régie de l’énergie du Canada - Ms. Christine Beauchemin Transcript GH-001-2019 TABLE OF CONTENTS/TABLE DES MATIÈRES (i) Description Paragraph No./No. de paragraphe Opening remarks by the Presiding Commissioner 984 Piikani Nation Mr. Ira Provost Elder Pat Provost Elder Shirlee Crow Shoe Elder Marvin Murray Oral Indigenous Knowledge presentation 1102 Transcript GH-001-2019 LIST OF EXHIBITS/LISTE DES PIÈCES No. Description Paragraph No./No. de paragraphe Transcript GH-001-2019 UNDERTAKINGS/ENGAGEMENTS No. Description Paragraph No./No. de paragraphe Transcript GH-001-2019 Opening remarks --- Upon commencing at 9:17 a.m./L’audience débute à 9h17 984. THE PRESIDING COMMISSIONER: Good morning, everybody. 985. My name is Stephania Luciuk and I am the Chair of the Panel who will be hearing the oral Indigenous knowledge portion of the application by NOVA Gas Transmission with respect to its Edson Mainline Expansion Project. 986. This is hearing number GH-001-2019. 987. We'd like to begin the hearing this morning with an opening prayer, and I would ask everybody to rise and join. 988. MR. IRA PROVOST: (Native word). Okay. I'm just going to traditionally call up on our elder to say the prayer. (Speaking in Native language). 989. ELDER PAT PROVOST: Good morning, everyone. Since we're -- I was presented with this tobacco, traditionally, when you present an elder with tobacco, you always ask for something. You ask for the prayer, but what is it when you gather us together like this, and this being your lodge or your tipi, and you bring us here to pray? What are you asking for? 990. Like, when we pray, then we have to pray about whatever it is, because you don’t just hand out tobacco without knowing what -- traditionally, what it stands for. 991. So are you asking for a better relationship? Are you asking for this pipeline to go smoothly and everybody to be happy and what are the things you'd like to see so we can pray for that? 992. Some of these things, you have to ask questions about before we start doing them. So it's just traditionally, you would ask me to pray for something that you're seeking. 993. THE PRESIDING COMMISSIONER: I'll invite my other Panel Members to add to that, because we are all here together. And certainly, the offering on my part was to ask for the opportunity to hear your oral Indigenous knowledge, to be able to be the recipient of your sharing of stories. Transcript GH-001-2019 Opening remarks 994. And with respect to the prayer, in my tradition and what I am here doing today, certainly, I hope that your prayer will seek to help all of us here today to listen and inquire and understand what you’ve come to share. And I think for my part, that is what I understand my responsibility to be here today. 995. And so that is what I hope to convey in offering the tobacco, and that is what I would certainly ask for in your prayers, that I hope that you will lead us in. 996. But as I said, I'll invite my Panel Members as well to add to that, because we are all here doing or carrying out our role, not just as a Panel, but also as individuals. So I'll invite them if they would like to add to that as well. 997. COMMISSIONER CÔTÉ: When I offer tobacco, similar to my colleague, I recognize first the journey that you’ve taken to come here today. I recognize and I welcome an opportunity to listen and to learn. This sharing hopefully is done in a respectful way in receiving it and that we could establish at the beginning, the ongoing trust. 998. I know that’s a journey rather than a moment, and I hope that we can demonstrate an ability to walk a step on that journey. 999. So I'm here, honoured by your presence, honoured by the fact that we have this moment to receive and to learn and to listen. And when I offer tobacco, I'm asking respectfully for the sharing and the opportunity to learn and to listen. 1000. COMMISSIONER JACKNIFE: Good morning. I offer the tobacco; I guess it's on behalf of the Canada Energy Regulator and this process that we are endeavouring to hear from many parties on a Project. And I would just offer that the tobacco represents an offering of place where you feel safe to present your stories and your knowledge, your traditional knowledge toward this Project, and it's for all the people in the room, for the relationship that we are trying to build. Thank you. 1001. ELDER PAT PROVOST: Okay. Before I start my prayer, also, this tobacco, when you presented it to us, in the past, tobacco, when it was presented, it was given to the leader of our societies or the leader that was leading this ceremony. And that tobacco was put into a pipe and prayed upon. That was the most sacred thing we can ever -- as Natives, when we smoke that pipe, we knew we had to be truthful. Transcript GH-001-2019 Opening remarks 1002. So when we take this pipe, that means at this point, we're equals. We've been sharing our land with you people for over 100 years, 200 years. And now we're trying to be a partner in jobs, to be part of this construction work that some of these projects. And we've been pleading for them for quite a few years. 1003. After we meet, after the meeting's over, that’s it for us. We go home and then we come back to another meeting. 1004. So let -- I sincerely ask you guys to be truthful and honest, that you are prepared to listen to our stories. They're not just stories. These are the hardships that we've been through that we're sharing today. 1005. So with that, I'll say a prayer and ask the Creator to bless this meeting and that everything that is said here and done today would be to the benefit of both parties. --- (OPENING PRAYER) 1006. THE PRESIDING COMMISSIONER: Thank you, and thank you for taking time to ask us to clarify and to share more information about what we were doing. 1007. Before we go any further, I also wanted to note that we were advised and we became aware of the passing of Jason Goodstriker. It was shared with me some of his roles, including being a respected member of the Blood Tribe, and his former role as Alberta Regional Chief for Assembly of First Nations. 1008. Before we start the more formal processes today, I wanted to invite a moment of silence. 1009. Is there anything you wanted to add with respect to that before we carry on with that? 1010. Then I’d ask us all just to take a moment to honour Jason Goodstriker as I said, who passed recently. --- MOMENT OF SILENCE TO HONOUR JASON GOODSTRIKER 1011. THE PRESIDING COMMISSIONER: Okay. Transcript GH-001-2019 Opening remarks 1012. As I noted, my name is Stephania Luciuk. The Commission, on behalf of the Panel, I’d like to acknowledge that the land that we are gathering on today is located in the place of Treaty 7 and Treaty 6 regions. This area is the traditional territory of the Niitsitapi Blackfoot, including Siksika, the Piikani, and the Kainai peoples. That’s Tsuut’ina, Stoney Nakoda, Cree, Saulteaux, and Métis peoples. 1013. Thank you for travelling to be here with us today for these proceedings. 1014. As I said at the beginning, we are here to hear oral Indigenous knowledge regarding the Edson Mainline Project, which is proposed by NOVA Gas Transmission Ltd., which I will refer to as NGTL today.