social performance
Stakeholder Engagement
During the summer of 2005,
as the United States Gulf Coast
was pummelled by high winds, flooded by sea water and in some
areas completely destroyed by hurricanes Katrina and Rita,
Enbridge employees showed their best sides by going above and
beyond the call of duty to assist others.
Within weeks of the storms, employees across the United
States had donated more than US$35,000 to hurricane relief
efforts via the Red Cross, a donation that was matched by the
company. And stories of individual heroic efforts abound in the
offices located in and around the hurricane zones.
One anonymous employee in Houston took an evacuated
family shopping and bought them enough clothes and
undergarments to last for a week. The Cushing Region and other
businesses in the area donated a state-of-the-art shower trailer
to The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to use
during the relief efforts. The Bazor Ridge facility in Waynesboro,
Mississippi loaned one of their generators to an elderly person
who was on an oxygen machine and without power.
Joe Giles of North Texas coordinated a delivery of drinking
water to Enbridge’s Dufour Petroleum office in Petal, Mississippi,
which was one of the hardest hit areas. Marty Cathey and
Lee Gilson both of North Texas gave up their Memorial Day
weekend to deliver a load of much needed fuel to Fairbanks,
Louisiana. The Houston office donated several sets of its Houston
Astros season tickets to evacuated families to provide a short
entertainment break in their stressful lives.
These are only some of the hundreds of acts of kindness
seen across Enbridge as employees reached out to help others
in need.
“Whether it was supporting employees and their families
in time of need or helping to restore operations, it’s a special
kind of teamwork that’s deeply appreciated,” says Rich Adams,
Vice President, Engineering and Operations.
Enbridge’s stakeholders are drawn from all sectors of society affected by our operations. They
include employees, suppliers, customers, investors, government agencies, environmental groups,
business partners and local communities. The time and effort we put into developing positive
relationships with these stakeholders is an essential part of being good neighbours and operators
in our different geographic regions. This engagement occurs in many different ways, including:
- project consultation;
- public awareness;
- community relations;
- customer engagement; and
- relations with indigenous peoples.
Stakeholder consultation continues to be of paramount importance on the Enbridge Gateway
Project – our proposal for dual pipelines running from Strathcona County (west of Bruderheim,
Alberta) to a new marine terminal in Kitimat, British Columbia. The pipelines, built along the
same right-of-way, would consist of a 36-inch petroleum export line along with a 20-inch
condensate import line.
A key component of the public consultation and communications program in late 2005 and early
2006 involved hosting 18 community open houses along the proposed project route. These open
house sessions provided interested parties with a chance to learn more about the project and voice
their opinions. It also gave them an opportunity to meet members of the Gateway Project team.
Approximately 86 per cent of all respondents surveyed at our open houses indicated that they
were either supportive of or neutral towards the Gateway Project. Ongoing stakeholder consultation
efforts include newsletter mailouts, an updated website, community meetings and presentations.
Gateway also hosted five invitational workshops during the last two weeks of November 2005.
These were designed to gauge issues and create discussion about potential environmental effects
perceived to be associated with the project. Suggestions about how the effects could be studied or
mitigated were also recorded.
In addition, the Gateway Project team continued to build relationships with Aboriginal
communities who might be affected by the project. We have identified communities or reserve
lands located within 80 kilometres on either side of the proposed right-of-way and terminal site.
Our consultation program now involves almost 50 Aboriginal communities in B.C. and Alberta.
Because some of these communities are represented by an umbrella organization or tribal council,
our program currently involves ongoing discussions with nearly 40 Aboriginal organizations.
To help ensure Aboriginal communities have the capacity to engage in meaningful consultations
and participate in environmental and regulatory reviews of our project, we have offered capacity
funding to most of these communities. In addition, Enbridge’s Aboriginal traditional knowledge
program is well underway to gather and record traditional land use and traditional knowledge along
the pipeline corridor. Offers to participate in traditional land use studies have been made to most
communities by our environmental team and meetings have been held with 31 communities.
We take pride in our long-standing reputation as a good neighbour and socially responsible
corporation. We are committed to meaningful discussion with stakeholder communities as well
as First Nations and Métis in Alberta and B.C. Enbridge will also remain committed to addressing
issues raised by interested parties. Follow-up actions are being, and will continue to be, undertaken
at various levels. Enbridge’s consultation efforts will continue through the regulatory process and
will be extended through the construction and operations phases.
The consultation we undertake and the relationships we have developed allow us to better
understand the issues and concerns of our neighbours, and to continue to refine the development
of the Gateway Project in order to realize the best solutions for all parties.
 Top of pagePipeline Industry Outreach
Through its leadership on various liquids and natural gas pipeline industry committees, Enbridge
successfully advocated to increase opportunities for stakeholder group representatives to participate
as speakers or panelists in pipeline industry conferences. For example, representatives of the Pipeline
Safety Trust – a nationwide pipeline safety advocacy group based in Bellingham, Washington –
spoke at the annual American Petroleum Institute Pipeline Conference in 2005 and 2006. Enbridge
also helped arrange for a Pipeline Safety Trust member to speak to members of the Southern Gas
Association. And the Trust has invited pipeline industry representatives to speak at its annual meeting
in 2006, further enhancing the communication channels that are carefully being developed between
pipeline operators and their host communities.
With the United States Congress preparing to move forward on pipeline safety reauthorization
legislation in 2006, Enbridge government affairs representatives joined a small contingent from
industry to prompt early dialogue among industry and pipeline safety advocacy groups to better
understand mutual positions and potential legislative provisions. This communication has led to
increasing common ground on several pipeline regulatory and policy issues – issues that previously
proved contentious, frustrating the congressional representatives and regulatory staff who strive to
issue new mandates for the pipeline industry.
Enbridge completed and implemented a significantly enhanced pipeline public awareness program
along our 22,530 kilometres (14,000 miles) of pipeline in the United States. Enbridge worked with
the federal pipeline safety regulator, and in June 2005 the consensus standard for pipeline public
awareness was adopted into federal regulations for transmission and some gathering pipelines. While
this has been a long-standing practice, our Enbridge program uses new technology to identify those
who work and live along the pipeline as well as helping us identify other key stakeholders, including
thousands of excavators, emergency responders and public officials.
On an industry level, Enbridge continued its leadership role in development of the new industry
consensus standard and chaired an effort to create a nationwide survey to help evaluate the recommended
public awareness practices. The collaborative program, involving 27 pipeline operators, will
survey affected public, local officials and excavators along 322,000 kilometres (200,000 miles) of pipe
in the United States.
Establishing good community relations around new facilities helps residents understand the
purpose and safety features of a new facility, such as our new Henderson Gas Processing plant in
Texas. As the final touches were being built at that facility, Enbridge conducted an open house for
plant neighbours, local public officials and employees. The event included facility tours, a discussion
of safety measures in place at the plant, and community investments in local youth organizations.
To commemorate the startup of our Spearhead Pipeline – which launched the first continuous
delivery of Canadian crude oil into the United States Mid-Continent region – Enbridge hosted an
open house and ‘first oil’ event in March 2006 for local and state public officials, community leaders
and news media at our Cushing Terminal in central Oklahoma. The event included a donation of
US$30,000 to the Cushing Regional Hospital in support of the institution’s campaign to launch a
new Women’s Health Center. Since 2004, Enbridge has invested more than US$53,000 in support
of the hospital.
Top of pageStakeholder Consultation
Enbridge is undertaking an unprecedented number of new pipeline construction projects in North
America.  Whether the project is a new pipe along existing pipeline right-of-way, construction of
new crude oil tanks or the acquisition of new land as our pipeline system extends to new markets,
we undertake proactive public communication and consultation programs. Trained right-of-way
professionals work directly with landowners following initial mailed communications that provide
stakeholders with an introduction to the project.
Enbridge believes that by communicating with all stakeholders – including local officials, state
and federal legislators and the media – we can help identify and resolve issues in the first stages of a
project. Enbridge benefits by learning about issues and proactively responding as early in the project as
possible. Our stakeholders benefit by an open and transparent process conducted early enough to have
meaningful input. As we prepared for the expansion of our East Texas gas gathering and transportation
system, the project staff contacted local and county officials in eight counties. Communications
outreach training was conducted twice with right-of-way representatives. Right-of-way landowners
received information in the mail, in addition to the personal contact with our representatives.
Each Enbridge public consultation program is adapted for the project and the uniqueness of
community expectations and issues. For our major Southern Access expansion, 216 kilometres
(134 miles) of the more than 805-kilometre (500-mile) project are along new rural farming routes
where no other utilities are located. Landowners and local officials in these areas often have little prior
knowledge of the pipeline industry. A project website was created to provide background information
and link stakeholders to other third-party sources of information. Prior to broad communications
with landowners along the route, Enbridge met with senior environmental and energy agencies and
with state and federal legislators so as word of the project spread, they would be prepared to answer
questions. Environmental staff, community relations representatives and right-of-way senior staff
consulted with local, state and federal officials and agencies to identify major issues early in the
process and the proposed route was adjusted accordingly. A public opinion survey was conducted
to help Enbridge better understand local concerns, including views on energy supply, safety and
environmental issues.
We have maintained regular communications with landowners, local officials, legislators and
environmental agencies. Along the portion of the Southern Access expansion route in Illinois,
Enbridge needs new right-of-way. Early understanding of farming practices and issues – through
consultation with county Farm Bureaus and others – significantly assisted in negotiation of an
agricultural impact mitigation agreement with the state Agriculture Department. This agreement
is an invaluable tool in working with individual farmer
landowners, who then have assurances that our
construction techniques will have the least possible
impact to their crop productivity.
We operate Canada’s largest natural gas distribution
company and deliver gas to 150,000 business customers
and more than 1.6 million residential customers in
Ontario. Enbridge Gas Distribution is committed to
providing fair and reasonable service to our customers.
Customer feedback gathered through regular surveys
helps gauge our performance against our commitment
and adjust service where necessary.
Enbridge Gas Distribution conducts annual
surveys of business customers and monthly surveys of
residential customers. These surveys are used to better
understand customer needs. We also discuss industry
and customer issues with an Enbridge-led industry
advisory council, consisting of heating, ventilating and
air conditioning (HVAC) contractors, manufacturers
and industry associations.
During the past six years, Enbridge Gas Distribution’s
customer satisfaction levels have remained
relatively stable. Despite the changing Ontario
energy marketplace, this stability illustrates customers’
continued attraction to natural gas as a reliable and
safe energy product.
Phil Fontaine,
National Chief
Enbridge was proud to sponsor a special reception in Ottawa in
March that brought together First Nations Chiefs and primary
policy-makers in the Canadian government.
The National Chief’s Reception was held on the occasion of
the Assembly of First Nations’ Special Chiefs’ Assembly in
Gatineau to celebrate the Norval Morrisseau Exhibit at the
National Gallery of Canada. Morrisseau is a well-known Ojibwa
painter and this was the first major exhibit of an Aboriginal
artist at the National Gallery.
“It was a spectacular evening,” says Robin Wortman, Senior
Advisor, Aboriginal Affairs. “National Chief Phil Fontaine invited
people in Ottawa to pay tribute to a great artist and to learn more
about young Aboriginal storytellers and an enthusiastic crowd
turned out.”
More than 400 guests attended the event ranging from
representatives of Aboriginal organizations to cabinet ministers
and other Parliamentarians.
The event also drew attention to a unique contest sponsored
by Enbridge in conjunction with The Dominion Institute. The
Canadian Aboriginal Writing Challenge is open to Aboriginal
youths ages 14 to 29 who are encouraged to write about their
perspectives of Canadian history. The winners are published
online and in a periodical produced by The Dominion Institute.
Top of pageRelationship with Indigenous Peoples
Enbridge is committed to respectful relations,
early engagement and meaningful dialogue with our
First Nation and Métis neighbours about our projects
that potentially affect them so that, together, we can
respect the environment and traditional ways and
develop opportunities to participate in and benefit
from our projects.
Enbridge’s Indigenous Peoples Policy has been
established to guide our employees and contractors in
their approach to consultation and engagement with
Aboriginal communities to ensure that it is consistent
and thorough. The policy expresses the key principles
for relations with indigenous peoples.
In 2005, Enbridge engaged with over 70 First Nations and Métis communities and organizations
to ensure that we remain respectful of traditional ways and land use, heritage sites, the environment
and traditional knowledge. Additional resources have been added to assist us with our relationships
and commitments. Enbridge has hired three Aboriginal people within our Aboriginal Affairs team: a
Senior Advisor, Aboriginal Affairs and an Advisor, Aboriginal Affairs to assist with our relations with
First Nations and Métis communities and organizations. We have also hired a Senior Advisor,
Business Relations and Skill Development
to focus on our commitment to fair and equal access
of indigenous peoples to opportunities in education,
training, employment and business development
that result from our operations, and foster greater
participation in those opportunities.
One of the priority focuses of Aboriginal Affairs
is the Gateway Project. The proposed pipeline will
traverse Treaty 6 and Treaty 8 territory in northwestern
Alberta and northeastern B.C. then continues westward
to Kitimat, B.C. through First Nation traditional
territories that are the subject of land claim and treaty
negotiations in northwestern B.C.
The Supreme Court of Canada has recognized that
First Nations in northwestern B.C. have a legal interest
overlying the Crown’s interest in Crown lands and
developments on those lands. This presents a unique
challenge for Enbridge due to the Crown’s subsequent
duty to consult with First Nations and Metis regarding
land-based resource developments. Enbridge has taken
a proactive and broadly inclusive approach that is
consistent with our Indigenous Peoples Policy.
Although a significant portion of our time and
resources remain focused in Alberta and B.C., we have
also demonstrated our sincere interest in Aboriginal
culture, history and literacy nationally through, a
partnership with The Dominion Institute, the publication
of a book called Our Story featuring 12 prominent
Aboriginal authors writing about their perspectives of
Canadian history, and the launch of the Aboriginal
Writing Challenge, which provided hundreds of
Aboriginal youth the chance to share their views on
an aspect of Canadian history in a short-story contest.
An August 2005 jury panel of Aboriginal writers
reviewed the entries and selected 10 stories for special
recognition and one top story. As well, Enbridge
sponsored a reception at the National Gallery of Canada hosted by the National Chief of the
Assembly of First Nations to celebrate the Norval Morrisseau Exhibit – the first Aboriginal artist
in Canada to have a major exhibit at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa.
And in June 2006 we announced our support of a new National Chair in Aboriginal Economic
Development based at the University of Victoria. Discovering a way for Aboriginal people to be able to access more jobs, create additional businesses, and have a better quality of life is just part of the job
description of Canada’s first National Chair in Aboriginal Economic Development. The chair will
direct a program of research, relationship-building and education to advance Aboriginal economic
development in Canada. It will conduct independent and collaborative research, develop a repository
of best practices, serve as a catalyst for and broker of partnerships among a range of parties, and offer
students relevant learning in a supportive environment. A symposium on issues relating to the chair
and its mandate will be hosted by the University of Victoria this fall, and a national search for the
chair holder will be undertaken in the coming year. |
