National Energy Board

www.neb-one.gc.ca

Common menu bar

• Français
• Home
• Contact Us
• Help
• Search
• canada.gc.ca

Breadcrumb

Video Stories - Steve Burgess - Transcript

"Well good morning to all of those who are still at the NEB or former employees of the NEB. Understand that this is a significant year in the history of the NEB at being the 50^th Anniversary. I've been asked to answer a couple of questions concerning my time at the Board. One of them was the most important event during the time I was there and the second is the funniest incident during my time at the NEB. I guess for me there were two things that stand out as being significant events while I was at the NEB.

The first has to do with when we were, it was back in the late 80s early 90s and during that time there was litigation going on, the Oldman Dam case, for example, which confirmed in fact that the NEB and other federal authorities had a duty to undertake environmental assessments pursuant to the EARP (Environmental Assessment and Review Process) guidelines order. That came as a real surprise to all of us at the NEB and caused quite a bit of work to be done to ensure that the NEB complied with the requirements there. And I guess for me it was most important because I was given the central task of leading the NEB's reaction to those court decisions and bringing the NEB along to comply with the guidelines order.

The second significant event and I think this was a significant event for many of us, was when in 1991 it was announced that the NEB was moving to Calgary and at the same time merging with COGLA (Canada Oil and Gas Lands Administration). In the end many of us went to Calgary and many of us stayed behind. I was one of those who stayed behind; ended up at Fisheries and Oceans and now with the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency. That was certainly a significant event in my life, in my career, and certainly one that I look back on with mixed emotions.

Certainly my time at the NEB was a wonderful, wonderful experience and I certainly missed when I left the NEB, my colleagues and the work there. But, on the other hand, I've had a great time since then at Fisheries and at the agency, so I look on it as a real opportunity and that really is the story there.

Now, I guess there were a number of funny incidents that occurred while I was at the NEB. The one that I remember the best occurred when, at the end of, I think, a Westcoast hearing up in Fort Nelson in Northern BC. It was a fairly intense hearing and at the end of it we decided, all of us, all of the NEB employees, decided that we needed to let off a little bit of steam, so we all gathered in the bar at the hotel we were staying at and had a few drinks and enjoyed ourselves. The lawyer on the Board though, decided it would be a good idea for all of us to put our tabs on the room of the Panel Manager and to see what kind of a reaction we might get when he discovered what we had done. So the next morning we all gathered at the front desk of the hotel to pay our bills and strangely enough there was no reaction. So, we thought o.k. eventually somebody will catch on. So we all went back to the office and completed our travel claims and still no reaction until Finance, in their own way, scrutinized the travel claims and realized there was an inordinately large bar bill on the Panel Manager's travel claim. And it was only then that we fessed up and contributed our share to that bill. But there were many other funny incidents but I think that one stands out for me.

So again, to all of you at the NEB and former employees, 50 years goes by relatively quickly I think, but certainly this is a significant milestone for all of us and I hope that, and I'm confident that the next 50 years at the Board will be as terrific as the last 50 have been. So good luck and take care everyone."

Primary navigation (left column)

Date Modified:

2011-10-26