"I'm Mike Cleland, President of the Canadian Gas Association and I just want to say 'Happy Birthday' to the National Energy Board on the occasion of its 50th Anniversary. I worked for the NEB for, oh, more than two decades in a variety of capacities, always had a great deal of respect for the institution, an important institution for Canada and the Canadian energy policy and a lot of very very excellent people.
For me, the NEB, more than anything else, is a thought leader. People don't often think of regulators that way, but I think that's what the NEB has been; it's led thinking, it's adapted to things as things have gone along, and you look into the future and the challenges facing energy and energy regulation in Canada, environmental approval processes, siting processes, dealing with the challenges of climate change. I think the NEB is going to play an extremely important role in helping to lead the thinking and more importantly helping to make that thinking concrete on the ground. So, again congratulations NEB!"