ARCHIVED – National Energy Board – 2014-15 Departmental Performance Report

National Energy Board – 2014-15 Departmental Performance Report [PDF 371 KB]

2014-15
Departmental Performance Report

National Energy Board

ISSN 2368-1292

Copyright/Permission to Reproduce

Table of Contents

Message from the Chair and CEO

Section I: Organizational Expenditure Overview

• Organizational Profile
• Organizational Context
• Actual Expenditures
• Alignment of Spending With the Whole-of-Government Framework
• Departmental Spending Trend
• Expenditures by Vote

Section II: Analysis of Program(s) by Strategic Outcome

• Strategic Outcome: The regulation of pipelines, power lines, energy development and energy trade contributes to the safety of Canadians, the protection of the environment and efficient energy infrastructure and markets, while respecting the rights and interests of those affected by NEB decisions and recommendations
  • Program 1.1: Energy Regulation
    • Sub-Program 1.1.1: Energy Regulation Development
    • Sub-Program 1.1.2: Energy Regulation Implementation, Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement
  • Program 1.2: Energy Information
  • Internal Services

Section III: Supplementary Information

• Financial Statements Highlights
• Financial Statements
• Supplementary Information Tables
• Tax Expenditures and Evaluations

Section IV: Organizational Contact Information

Appendix: Definitions

Endnotes

Message from the Chair and CEO

I am pleased to present the National Energy Board (NEB or the Board) Departmental Performance Report for 2014-15. This has been a year of change for the Board. As the new Chair, I’ve set an ambitious modernization agenda anchored on improving relationships with municipalities and Indigenous Peoples, enhancing environmental and safety outcomes, and increased transparency for pipeline safety measurement.

In my first months as Chair, I reviewed the NEB and found that our 450 staff – composed of environmental scientists, engineers, engagement specialists, among many others – is highly professional. However, our relationships with communities affected by existing and proposed pipelines needed improvement.

In November 2014, I launched an NEB cross-Canada engagement initiative in Saint John, New Brunswick and I committed to meet personally with municipal and Indigenous leaders, ENGOs, and first responders to listen to their concerns about pipeline safety and environmental protection. By the time the initiative was completed, I had held 80 meetings in 34 cities and towns in nine provinces and two territories, logging nearly 40,000 kilometres. What I heard in those meetings was that Canadians wanted their land and water protected from possible negative effects from energy infrastructure and they also wanted to know if the NEB was ready to respond effectively if a major pipeline incident occurred.

Increased transparency about NEB activities and pipeline safety is a cornerstone of our enhanced public engagement. In addition to making more compliance and enforcement information available to Canadians, we have renewed our commitment to community-focused communications. To this end, we opened regional offices in Montreal and Vancouver in the spring of 2015. The offices are part of an initiative to strengthen our regional presence, raise awareness about our work, and build stronger relationships with Indigenous groups, local municipalities and landowners.

This focus on working with municipalities led to a relationship with the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal (CMM) – which is the association of metropolitan Montreal municipalities. During 2014-15, talks began between our organizations to develop a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to improve information sharing and collaboration. These discussions led to the formal signing of the MOU later in 2015.

Over the course of the past year, the NEB has actively developed our environmental and safety programs. We worked with the Canada-Nova Scotia offshore Petroleum Board and the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board to release a joint framework on industry safety culture. We continue to focus on data collection and analysis to better measure company performance on all aspects of environmental protection and safety, and the NEB is now publicly reporting on Administrative Monetary Penalties, incidents and unauthorized activities. This includes significant work to build an online Pipeline Incident Map, which offers Canadians the opportunity to view all pipeline incidents in Canada since 2008. This major transparency initiative was launched just weeks after the end of the 2014-15 fiscal year.

2014-15 was a year of change for the Board, and we have embraced the opportunities presented by this change to improve, refine and refresh the work we do for Canadians. This helped lay the foundation for our updated strategic focus, including: Leading Regulatory Excellence, Taking Action on Safety and Engaging with Canadians. It is a testament to the passion and skill of our dedicated staff that the NEB has continued to demonstrate excellence and continual improvement on behalf of Canadians.

C. Peter Watson, P.Eng., FCAE

Chair and CEO

Date modified:

2020-09-29