Note that Bill Tilleman, the new chair of the EUB was also involved in brokering the "streamlined" regulatory review of the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline as a special advisor to then Indian Affairs Minister Nault
-Petro-Pete
Alberta names new chairman for embattled regulator
Reuters
Monday, September 17, 2007
CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Alberta has appointed a prominent lawyer to head the oil-rich province's energy regulator and restore public confidence after a spying scandal sparked calls for resignations at the agency's senior levels.
The government said on Monday it appointed William Tilleman as chairman of the Energy and Utilities Board.
This follows two investigations into revelations that the EUB had hired private eyes to gather personal information about landowners critical of a proposed power line.
Last week, the province's privacy commissioner ruled the EUB's investigators had improperly gathered details of project opponents by posing as them at regulatory proceedings in May and June and failed to protect that information.
Another probe, by Alberta Justice Del Perras, concluded on Monday that some actions were "appropriate and prudent" due to safety risks but said one aspect, monitoring landowners' conference calls, was "repulsive."
The EUB -- which is responsible for making sure developers act in the public interest -- has argued it hired investigators because it feared for its staff's safety after an incidence of physical and verbal violence disrupted an earlier hearing into the C$495 million ($480 million) power line between Calgary and Edmonton.
Calgary-based Tilleman has served as chairman of both the Alberta Environmental Appeals Board and Alberta Persons with Developmental Disabilities Appeals Board as well as legal counsel to several federal tribunals.
The Conservative government of Premier Ed Stelmach and Tilleman made it clear the new chairman's initial task will be to rebuild the regulator's credibility.
"From my experience, public review processes work legally only if they work publicly," Tilleman said in a statement. "The hallmark of the most prominent regulatory decisions in Alberta's history has been strong public input."
Opposition parties in the provincial legislature have demanded that Energy Minister Mel Knight, as well as senior officials, at the EUB resign.
The board has been without a permanent chairman since the end of March, when its previous head, Neil McCrank, retired. Board member Brad McManus has acted as interim chairman.
Monday's report by Justice Perras was more forgiving of the EUB than the one headed by the privacy commissioner, which ruled the actions contravened privacy laws.
"It is my view that the security arrangements, given all the circumstances and available options, were prudent and not abused save and except the May 28, 2007, okay to connect to the conference call," Perras wrote in his report.
Monitoring conference calls was "repulsive and more so because it is not needed to carry out the security mandate..."
Last week, reports surfaced that the board also hired private investigators to monitor another hearing into an oil sands upgrading project in Redwater, Alberta, north of Edmonton.
($1=$1.03 Canadian)
© Reuters 2007
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=6cdf17bd-5d12-4...
