Land Matters Group Advisory Committee (LMG AC) Minutes – 16 December 2021

Zoom Videoconference Meeting
Thursday, December 16, 2021
10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. (MST)

Contents

In Attendance

In Attendance

Marc-André Plouffe, Chair and A/VP, Communications and Engagement
Véronique Duhamel, Director of Engagement
Carole Léger-Kubeczek, LMG Coordinator

Canadian Federation of Agriculture

Frank Annau

Alberta Federation of Agriculture

Lynn Jacobson

Ontario Federation of Agriculture

Drew Spoelstra

Union des producteurs agricoles

Isabelle Bouffard
Vanessa Desrosiers

TC Energy

Graeme Wright

Enbridge Inc.

Larry Yurkiw
Sarah McKenzie

International Right of Way Association

Brodie Allen
Jenna Wood

Alberta Farmers’ Advocate Office

Darcy Allen

Natural Ressources Canada

Renée Bazinet

Alberta Energy Regulator

Carey Patterson
Fiona LeBlanc

Canada Energy Regulator

Marc Boucher
Luc Rainville
Marie-Anick Élie
Anne-Marie Erickson
Lisa Zaplachinski
Shannon Neufeld
Sandra Falconi
Jeanne Barry
Jackie Hoglund
Grant Moss
Janna Rodioukova
Brianne Chan
Angelsea Saby
Karen Roberts

Absent:

Tim Marsh, Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture
Lisanne Bazinet, Natural Resources Canada

Welcome/Introductions/Land Acknowledgements

Review and Approval of the Meeting Agenda

Members Roundtable Updates and Recruitment of New IRWA Representative

  • Self-introduction by each member.
  • Following his update, Brodie Allen presented Josh Vass as a candidate who could replace him as a representative of the International Right of Way Association (IRWA).
  • Josh Vass was approved as the newest member to join the LMG AC.
  • Brodie indicated his intent to step away from the LMG AC, unless either one the other two IRWA members (Jenna Wood or Josh Vass) could not attend a meeting. He also mentioned his plan to work on a collaboration project with the CER.

The Year Ahead – Opening Remarks from the Chair

  • Building stakeholder trust and confidence is one of the CER’s strategic priorities.
  • Reiteration of the CER’s ongoing support and commitment to working collaboratively with the LMG AC towards the resolution of the issues prioritized by its members.
  • Commitment to increase the level of communication between the CER and the LMG AC.

Pipeline Profiles Project

  • Pipeline Profiles (PP) is an online tool that allows users to easily locate information and gain meaningful insights about CER-regulated pipelines and related facilities without having to conduct extensive research in various part of the CER website.
  • The members asked the PP project working group to consider adding a component that would enable users to track and follow the works of the Indigenous Monitoring Program.

LMG Roadmap Progress Update

  • The LMG Roadmap is used to track the recommendations that were put forward during the February 3-day workshops.
  • Lisa Zaplachinski presented an update describing the progress achieved since February towards the implementation of these recommendations.
  • The highlights include improvements to information provided in the following areas:
  • Access to lands
  • Archaeological studies
  • Alternative dispute resolution
  • Damage prevention
  • Engagement through online information
  • Lifecycle stages of CER-regulated projects,
  • REGDOCS

2021–2022 LMG Survey Highlights

  • In late October, the members were invited to respond to an online survey, the purpose of which was to further define the priorities in reference to the following topics:
    • Composition of the advisory committee – adding more diversity and inclusiveness
    • Structure of the advisory committee / sub-committees
      • The creation of a new sub-committee was discussed, and a January meeting will be called to discuss issues related to the newsletter:
        • Role of the LMG AC in relation to the newsletter
        • Newsletter content
        • Pre-publication notification
    • The issues to prioritize:
      • Access to property
      • Compensation
      • Pipeline and facilities abandonment
      • Implication of Indigenous monitoring on private property
    • LMG Communications and Engagement Plan:
      • Area of focus: membership recruitment
    • LMG webpage content review and suggestions for additional content:
      • The content rated as satisfactory, though we can all agree that there is room for further improvements.
      • The suggestions will be reviewed and included in upcoming articles when and where appropriate. These are some examples:
      • Positive (success) stories (i.e. challenges overcome, restoration of relationships)
        • Case studies involving dispute resolution outcomes
        • Before and after stories (land-use)
        • Landowner engagement: benefits of clear communication, and follow up on commitments and concerns
    • LMG News
    • Some members expressed concerns about the content of the November 2021 issue.
      • Some members are of the opinion that the topics covered in the articles should be based on different aspects of the priority issues identified in the LMG Work Plan.
      • Members were asked to share the newsletter within their own constituency groups because doing so will help raise awareness about the LMG and its newsletter.
      • Readership analytics are now in place to measure the response rate on an ongoing basis.
        • The members are interested in being updated about the readership data.
      • Members were asked to share with the CER any feedback received about the newsletter’s content.
    • Additional element of discussion:
      • The members recommend giving some thought to providing landowners with greater clarity in terms of “which regulator (federal or provincial) does what, where and when, and who to contact for information”.

Advisory Committee’s Composition and Structure

  • Review of the LMG AC’s strengths and gaps to establish a baseline

Composition

The objective of this discussion was to generate a shortlist of associations/groups that could be invited to fill the number of available seats + one backup in each category. The recommendations are to the presented to the CER for final approval.

Category of Landowner and Landowner Associations

Recommendation – further research needed to finalize this selection:

  • Primary – Association of Woodlot Owners (or a similar type of association)
  • Backup – For the region of British Columbia, the BC Oil and Gas Corporation may be a good resource to provide a recommendation based on their own engagement activities.
    Contact BCOGC (Consult with Land Owners & Rights Holders)
    BC Agriculture Council

Category of Industry

Recommendations

  • Primary – Canadian Electricity Association
  • Backup – Power transmission company: Hydro-Québec (preferred) or Manitoba Hydro

Category of Lands Services

Recommendation – further research needed to finalize this selection:

  • Association of Surface Land Agents
  • Canadian Association of Petroleum Landmen
  • Canadian Association of Petroleum Land Administration

Recommendation for potential involvement at the sub-committee level:

  • Association of Canada Lands Surveyors
  • Professionals specializing in land matters: lawyers, land developers or urban planners

Category of Government

  • Primary – Canadian Federation of Municipalities
  • Backup – BC Farmers’ Information Services

Structure of the LMG AC

For this discussion, the objective was to determine the right structure for the LMG AC going forward and agree on a recommendation to be submitted to the CER.

  • The members support a structure consisting of an advisory committee supplemented by ad-hoc sub-committees.
    • The members feel strongly about retaining their role in an advisory capacity to the CER.
    • The members feel however that in some instances, a given topic may be better suited for a smaller group discussion, especially if this approach opens the door to bringing in subject matter experts from the CER or from other sources who could provide greater insights.
      • Sub-committees would be structured as follows:
        • Discussion to be based on a single topic or issue
        • Sub-committees would be open to all members, but not everyone would be expected to attend.
        • Work of the sub-committee to be presented to the advisory committee for final decision.

Next Meeting

The next meeting has been tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, March 1, 2022.

Adjournment

  • Meeting adjourned at 12:55 p.m. (Mountain Time)
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