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“Have pity,” he said.

One of the NEB panelists bowed her head and appeared to wipe away a tear.

But this moment of quiet rapture and human connection was, according to observers and transcripts of previous hearings, more the exception than the rule during three weeks of oral testimony that concluded Thursday. In fact, many participants were not shy in telling the NEB panel they had little faith in the process and feared it was headed for a “predetermined outcome.”

Have pity

That the hearings were happening at all was the result of an August ruling from the Federal Court of Appeal which overturned the government’s approval of a pipeline expansion that would triple the amount of diluted bitumen it carries from Alberta to B.C. The government had to redo its consultations with First Nations, the court ruled, because the first round hadn’t been done in a meaningful way. The court also found the NEB had made a “critical error” when it recommended the government proceed with the project without taking into account its possible impact on the marine environment.

As part of its response, the government told the NEB to draw up a new report with a focus on the impact of increased tanker traffic, particularly on the southern resident killer whale and other species at risk. It set a deadline of Feb. 22, 2019. And so the NEB panel set up meetings in Calgary, Victoria and Nanaimo to hear oral traditional evidence from Indigenous leaders.

Complaints about the process soon followed. Why weren’t any of the hearings being held in Vancouver? How was it possible to cover adequately in the given two-hour time limits their spiritual and cultural connections to the ocean?