Meeting with the National Energy Board's CEO - Montréal Is Delighted to Host an NEB Office

MONTRÉAL, Jan. 16, 2015 /CNW Telbec/ - Montréal is delighted to grant the National Energy Board's (NEB's) wish to open an office here in the near future. Mr. Peter Watson, CEO of the NEB, made the announcement this morning during a meeting with Mr. Denis Coderre, Mayor of Montréal and President of the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal (CMM).

"Creation of a Montréal satellite division is the ultimate proof that the NEB takes the concerns of stakeholders from Montréal and throughout Québec seriously in evaluating projects with a potential impact on them. The NEB demonstrated its great responsiveness to recommendations from Montréal and the CMM in the Enbridge matter and we are convinced this will be true as well in the Énergie Est pipeline project. Relations between the NEB and Montréal were already excellent. The opening of an NEB office in our Metropolis is icing on the cake," said Mayor Coderre.

As we know, the CMM, the Union des producteurs agricoles and Équiterre, among others, participated last year in consultations organized by the NEB on the Enbridge Line 9B Reversal Project. When the NEB handed down its decision on the project, Mr. Coderre congratulated the Board for requiring Enbridge to consult with the municipalities involved in project planning and implementation.

Last September, the Mayor advised the NEB's CEO of his dissatisfaction with Enbridge's responses on the measures it intended to deploy in crossing bodies of water and dealing with emergencies, two conditions the NEB set when approving the project. In a letter published in the media, Mr. Watson said the metropolitan region's municipalities were right about their concerns and told Enbridge to resolve the problem.

"With increasing numbers of oil transport projects, the local presence of NEB officials is excellent news. This presence guarantees greater attentiveness to and constructive interactions with the community. Montréal has always shown leadership in monitoring and supervising the pipeline project. We are very proud that the NEB recognizes this leadership," said Mr. Coderre,

SOURCE Ville de Montréal - Cabinet du maire et du comité exécutif

For further information: Catherine Maurice, Press Attaché, Office of the Mayor and the Executive Committee, 514-346-7598