The Energy East hearings in Montreal have been cancelled for the day after protesters stormed the proceedings.
Montreal police intervened, dragging the protesters out of the room in dramatic fashion.
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The hearings did not have a chance to get underway; they were scheduled to start at 9 a.m. ET at Centre Mont-Royal at 2200 Mansfield Street in downtown Montreal.
RAW: Protesters dragged out of Energy East hearings
Demonstrators, both for and against the $15.7 billion pipeline, project stood side-by-side outside the building.
It started peaceful, but protesters soon started yelling at each other.
Montreal mayor Denis Coderre was expected to be the first person to speak during the hearings, but he didn’t have a chance to approach the microphone before protesters interrupted.
One of the anti-pipeline protesters, Kristian Gareau, entered the room and started chanting and clapping with the other protesters.
He said the entire NEB process is illegitimate because two of the commissioners had met with Charest.
“There is a perception of bias,” said Gareau, 36.
“These two commissioners are part of this democratic institution, which has the sweeping power of a federal court. So a judge cannot go and meet with people in a back room. It just shows this smug elite privilege which is completely unacceptable.”
“TransCanada will not pass,” screamed another protester as police dragged him away.
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Montreal police spokesperson Jean-Pierre Brabant confirmed a man, aged 35, was arrested and faces charges of obstruction of justice and assaulting a police officer; he remains in custody.
A 44-year-old man and a 29-year-old woman were also arrested for obstruction of justice.
“They were released and are waiting for their court date,” said Brabant.
Coderre, along with the mayor of Laval and other municipal representatives, walked out of the hearings not long after the demonstrators charged in.
He, along with many provincial politicians and First Nations groups, oppose TransCanada’s project to transport crude oil from Alberta to New Brunswick.
“There are too many problems we are witnessing to accept the project,” Coderre told reporters after he decided to quit Monday’s hearings.
“We’re saying the project (TransCanada) presented is wrong, it’s bad and we don’t have the answers. And frankly one of the main issues is contingency plans, everything regarding safety.”
Last week, Coderre asked for the hearings to be suspended after media reports revealed that two of the three NEB commissioners overseeing the review process met former Quebec premier Jean Charest, who was at the time a lobbyist for TransCanada (TSX:TRP).
The mayor said he wasn’t calling for the commissioners to resign, but that there was a perception of bias.
Nonetheless, Coderre said it was important for him to give testimony in order for the NEB and the rest of the country to appreciate the concerns of local citizens.
The head of the hearings for the National Energy Board said the federal regulatory body will try to resume proceedings Tuesday.
The NEB plans additional hearings in several other cities, including Quebec City, before concluding in Kingston, Ont., in December.
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The board must submit its report by March 2018, after which the federal cabinet will have the final say on the project.
What is the Energy East project?
The Energy East project is a 4,500-kilometre pipeline that would see crude oil transported from Alberta to Eastern Canada.
It has become controversial in Quebec, with many politicians and activists coming out against the project due to environmental concerns.
Meanwhile, the oil industry, along with the premiers of Alberta, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick, have come out staunchly in favour.
READ MORE: Energy East pipeline gets support from Quebec businesses, unions
The review will factor in greenhouse gas emissions caused by the construction of the project, but potential upstream emissions will be left to Environment and Climate Change Canada to tally and for the federal cabinet to factor into its final decision.
The Energy East pipeline would open new markets for Canadian oil by carrying 1.1 million barrels of Alberta and Saskatchewan crude to refineries in Eastern Canada and an export terminal in New Brunswick.
— with files from The Canadian Press.
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