Tedium of hearings redeemed by importance to Fort McMurray
Column: Gimme Some Grammar appeared in Fort McMurray Today July 21, 2006
By MICHAEL HALL
Today staff
Reporter Renato Gandia has been keeping everyone in touch with what's happening at the Alberta Energy and Utility Board hearing into Suncor Energy's proposed Voyageur project.
He's dutifully attended (because we asked him to) the hearings for a couple of weeks now.
Gandia has been the only reporter to be at the hearing since Day 1: some of our colleagues from Edmonton newspapers, The Canadian Press, radio and TV have dropped in from time to time, but Gandia has listening to the endless testimony from almost everyone involved in the hearing, only skipping out for a few hours during the most boring stuff.
"Boring"? Yes, boring.
That's my assessment.
One participant told me she was a "hearings geek," but I'm having a hard time accepting that at face value after spending a little over 1 1/2 hours at the hearing Wednesday. I wanted to get a flavour of the scene. I'm here to report it to you.
Yes, boring. It wasn't just me. I saw participants surfing the Internet with their laptops, checking e-mail on their BlackBerries, writing documents that didn't appear to have anything to do with the hearing, reading newspapers, stretching, yawning and staring off into space. One woman, eyes closed, rocked her head from side to side.
There's a court reporter typing a transcript in real time, and people actually sit there and watch the words on the screen, a few seconds after they hear them.
Here are some of the notes I made, trying to keep busy during the tedium:
* A child with flip-flops runs through the back of the room, making (a predictable) flip-flop sound.
* The words are far and few between, with huge gaps between question and answer. At times, two or three minutes can lapse, only to be rewarded with a "no."
* I counted every head in the room: 83.
* People lean over, whispering into each others' ears.
* When asked about the IFN (I later learned it meant instream flow needs), a witness answers "I could not speak to that, sir."
* When the meeting breaks for lunch, many of the participants march out with thick (six- to 12-inch) binders under their arms.
* More dialogue: Lawyer: "You'd agree with that, then." Witness: "Generally we wouldn't disagree."
* One moment of humour: a lawyer asks the government witnesses if he can refer to them as "the province" instead of the legally correct "Queen in right of the Province of Alberta." The witness answers, "I've been called worse."
Suncor and AEUB staff have rented separate conference rooms from the hotel to allow their people to get away from the hearing itself. There's a steady stream of people in and out of the hearing room and into these rooms. I was allowed a peek into the EUB's room, and saw a food buffet set up for meals on the go. The Suncor people kept their doors closed, but admitted they have a buffet, too.
Lucky people. The food at the Sawridge is delicious.
While I was sitting there, listening to a lawyer cross-examine a witness, my mind wandered to all of the other times I've been in the same ballroom before and after it was renovated a few years ago.
On my first trip to Fort McMurray during the Easter weekend in 1988, we sampled the scrumptious brunch the hotel puts on in that space. Many more meals there over the years have helped expand my belt size.
Over the years I've attended numerous political forums there, along with dinners of every description, including the chamber of commerce function a couple of years ago when Fort McMurray Today was honoured.
Just over a year ago, a close relative's wedding reception was held in the same room. It was quite a night.
I've heard the AEUB hearing referred to as part of a quasi-judicial process. I guess that's why there are so many lawyers there. At hundreds of dollars an hour, multiplied by dozens of lawyers, it could be a big bill.
While costs aren't determined until afterward, it could run into the hundreds of thousand of dollars, an AEUB spokesman told me. Suncor may have to foot much of that bill.
The longest hearing to date was for an application by Compton Petroleum. It took six weeks. Many locals feel the Suncor hearing is one of the longest in this region.
The company looking to get its Voyageur project approved had 40 people at the Sawridge at its peak, according to a company spokeswoman. They range from support staff to experts to the oft-derided lawyers. It's a good investment, because while Voyageur will cost billions of dollars to build, they expect it to earn a tidy profit over time.
In a perfect world, I wouldn't send Renato to the hearings. I'd rather have him cover stories about people in Fort McMurray and how they're making this a better place.
But the hearing is Important, with a capital I. It could mean thousands of jobs. Lives could be changed.
No one else is covering the hearing, so we have to.
While it's dull, it's important, too.
I hope you've been keeping up with Gandia's stories almost every day. He's done excellent work.
He's there so you don't have to be.
© Copyright 2006, Fort McMurray Today.
By MICHAEL HALL
Today staff
Reporter Renato Gandia has been keeping everyone in touch with what's happening at the Alberta Energy and Utility Board hearing into Suncor Energy's proposed Voyageur project.
He's dutifully attended (because we asked him to) the hearings for a couple of weeks now.
Gandia has been the only reporter to be at the hearing since Day 1: some of our colleagues from Edmonton newspapers, The Canadian Press, radio and TV have dropped in from time to time, but Gandia has listening to the endless testimony from almost everyone involved in the hearing, only skipping out for a few hours during the most boring stuff.
"Boring"? Yes, boring.
That's my assessment.
One participant told me she was a "hearings geek," but I'm having a hard time accepting that at face value after spending a little over 1 1/2 hours at the hearing Wednesday. I wanted to get a flavour of the scene. I'm here to report it to you.
Yes, boring. It wasn't just me. I saw participants surfing the Internet with their laptops, checking e-mail on their BlackBerries, writing documents that didn't appear to have anything to do with the hearing, reading newspapers, stretching, yawning and staring off into space. One woman, eyes closed, rocked her head from side to side.
There's a court reporter typing a transcript in real time, and people actually sit there and watch the words on the screen, a few seconds after they hear them.
Here are some of the notes I made, trying to keep busy during the tedium:
* A child with flip-flops runs through the back of the room, making (a predictable) flip-flop sound.
* The words are far and few between, with huge gaps between question and answer. At times, two or three minutes can lapse, only to be rewarded with a "no."
* I counted every head in the room: 83.
* People lean over, whispering into each others' ears.
* When asked about the IFN (I later learned it meant instream flow needs), a witness answers "I could not speak to that, sir."
* When the meeting breaks for lunch, many of the participants march out with thick (six- to 12-inch) binders under their arms.
* More dialogue: Lawyer: "You'd agree with that, then." Witness: "Generally we wouldn't disagree."
* One moment of humour: a lawyer asks the government witnesses if he can refer to them as "the province" instead of the legally correct "Queen in right of the Province of Alberta." The witness answers, "I've been called worse."
Suncor and AEUB staff have rented separate conference rooms from the hotel to allow their people to get away from the hearing itself. There's a steady stream of people in and out of the hearing room and into these rooms. I was allowed a peek into the EUB's room, and saw a food buffet set up for meals on the go. The Suncor people kept their doors closed, but admitted they have a buffet, too.
Lucky people. The food at the Sawridge is delicious.
While I was sitting there, listening to a lawyer cross-examine a witness, my mind wandered to all of the other times I've been in the same ballroom before and after it was renovated a few years ago.
On my first trip to Fort McMurray during the Easter weekend in 1988, we sampled the scrumptious brunch the hotel puts on in that space. Many more meals there over the years have helped expand my belt size.
Over the years I've attended numerous political forums there, along with dinners of every description, including the chamber of commerce function a couple of years ago when Fort McMurray Today was honoured.
Just over a year ago, a close relative's wedding reception was held in the same room. It was quite a night.
I've heard the AEUB hearing referred to as part of a quasi-judicial process. I guess that's why there are so many lawyers there. At hundreds of dollars an hour, multiplied by dozens of lawyers, it could be a big bill.
While costs aren't determined until afterward, it could run into the hundreds of thousand of dollars, an AEUB spokesman told me. Suncor may have to foot much of that bill.
The longest hearing to date was for an application by Compton Petroleum. It took six weeks. Many locals feel the Suncor hearing is one of the longest in this region.
The company looking to get its Voyageur project approved had 40 people at the Sawridge at its peak, according to a company spokeswoman. They range from support staff to experts to the oft-derided lawyers. It's a good investment, because while Voyageur will cost billions of dollars to build, they expect it to earn a tidy profit over time.
In a perfect world, I wouldn't send Renato to the hearings. I'd rather have him cover stories about people in Fort McMurray and how they're making this a better place.
But the hearing is Important, with a capital I. It could mean thousands of jobs. Lives could be changed.
No one else is covering the hearing, so we have to.
While it's dull, it's important, too.
I hope you've been keeping up with Gandia's stories almost every day. He's done excellent work.
He's there so you don't have to be.
© Copyright 2006, Fort McMurray Today.
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