NDP demands that Energy East documents be submitted in French

The NDP is once again urging Parliament to demand that TransCanada submit its documents for the Energy East project in both official languages.

“Quebec is at the heart of the Energy East project, and addressing Quebeckers in French is a simple matter of respect,” said MP Pierre Nantel (Longueuil—Pierre-Boucher) who has tabled a motion aimed at requiring all National Energy Board (NEB) documents to be made available in both English and French.

“It also just makes sense to do so – when a developer wants to build a pipeline, it’s essential to hold public meetings. Of course, it also makes sense to interact with communities in their native language,” added Nantel.

The NDP also lodged a complaint with the Commissioner of Official Languages last year, in response to the English-only documents that were published on the Energy East project. TransCanada submitted 30,000 pages of documents to the NEB, the vast majority of which were in English only. Of course, the pipeline would run through Quebec and some of the most affected areas are francophone communities.

The motion reads as follows:

“That, in the opinion of the House, when a project proponent submits plans, profiles, reference books, as well as any complementary or supplementary document to the National Energy Board (NEB) for the construction and operation of a pipeline, the NEB should ensure that these documents are available in both official languages, at the expense of the proponent.”