A recent article in the Okotoks Western Wheel focused on the "unprecedented length" of the Sullivan hearing:
The hearing started on Nov. 12 and was initially scheduled to run until Nov. 27, with five extra days scheduled if required. The meeting has since extended beyond the extra days and has even changed venues once.
Conflicts with schedules and the diverse amount of content covered over the past three months have extended the hearing beyond what anyone expected. I personally thought this would be finished well before the New Year!
As we near the end of the hearing process it would be easy to look back and scrutinize the path its taken to get to where we are today; however, doing so would belittle what we’ve heard. Albertans have long enjoyed a thorough and transparent regulatory process, where all stakeholders can provide their views on energy development and this hearing has been no different.
Over the past three months we’ve heard from a diverse array of experts – from wildlife biologists and botanists to pipeline engineers and local range riders. We’ve heard from those with professional degrees and those whose familiarity and history with the land have made them professionals in their own right.
Has it been a long process? Yes. But when the formal hearing process concludes next week what will be left is an unprecedented volume of knowledge that the Board will use to determine if the Sullivan project is in the best interest of all Albertans.
Has it been a valuable process? No doubt.
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