How to Decide – Engagement, Information and Capacity: What Works? - October 2017
Oct 9, 2017
This workshop focused on engagement, information, and capacity to strengthen the integrity and effectiveness of energy decision-making processes and outcomes in Canada. What is working? What can be improved and what are the promising innovations and practices? The event’s emphasis was on exchange and dialogue between participants with the goal of identifying feasible and desirable solutions for the design of decision-making processes that balance efficiency, innovation and competitiveness imperatives with procedural integrity.
To frame the debate, a discussion paper produced by Positive Energy research team member Dr. Louis Simard was presented at the workshop and circulated in the days prior to the event. This paper, the last of a series of three, is entitled How to decide? Engagement, Information and Capacity. It explores avenues to improve the decision process in the energy sector, notably upstream at the policy level and downstream at the project implementation level.
Speakers and Documents
Opening remarks
- Dr. Monica Gattinger, Chair, Positive Energy
Keynote Speakers
- Nik Nanos, Chair and Chief Executive Officer, Nanos Research (PDF, 1.7MB)
- David Mullan, Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Law, Queen’s University, Positive Energy Project Advisory Group (PDF, 489KB)
- Michael Binder, President and Chief Executive Office, Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (PDF, 653KB)
- Michael Cleland, Senior Fellow, Positive Energy
Engagement, Information and Capacity: What Works? (Discussion Paper)
- Louis Simard, Associate Professor, School of Political Studies, University of Ottawa, Positive Energy
(PDF, 481KB) - Manon Abud, Vice-President Engagement Strategies, Research and Measurement, Hill & Knowlton Strategies
Panel 1: The Need for Long-Term Policy And Planning Frameworks In Canadian Energy Decision-Making: What Works?
- Michael Cleland, Senior Fellow, Positive Energy
- Loleen Berdahl, Professor and Chair, Political Studies, University of Saskatchewan (PDF, 1.7MB)
- Chuck Farmer, Director Stakeholder and Public Affairs, Independent Electricity System Operator (PDF, 154KB)
- Jay Khosla, Assistant Deputy Minister, Energy Sector, Natural Resources Canada
- Kim Scott, Senior Associate, NVision Insight Group, Principal, Kishk Anaquot Health Research
Breakout Session 1: Rising to the Information Challenge
- Stewart Fast, Senior Research Associate, Positive Energy
- Marisa Beck, Post-doctoral Researcher, Positive Energy (PDF, 4.7MB)
Panel 2: Institutions and Practices for Decision-Making in Québec: What’s Working? What Could Work Better?
- Louis Simard, Associate Professor, School of Political Studies, University of Ottawa, Positive Energy
- Louis-Gilles Francoeur, Vice-President, BAPE (Bureau des audiences publiques sur l’environnement), Québec
- Frédéric Krikorian, Director, Sustainability, Public and Government Affairs, Gaz Métro (PDF, 1.1MB)
- Paul John Murdoch, Secretary, Cree Nation Government and Partner, Murdoch Archambault Avocats
- Myriam Truchon, Director, Regional and Community Affairs, Hydro-Québec (PDF, 738KB)
Panel 3: Regulatory Development and Project Decision-Making: Where Information, Capacity and Engagement meet the Road
- Dr. Monica Gattinger, Chair, Positive Energy
- Karen Farbridge, President, Karen Farbridge & Associates Ltd., former Mayor of Guelph (PDF, 760KB)
- Peter W. Gurnham, Chair, Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board
- Chris Henderson, President, Lumos Energy
- Trent Zacharias, Manager of Local Community Relations, Cenovus
Breakout Session 2: Making Engagement Work
- Stephen Bird, Positive Energy Research Team, Professor of Political Science, Clarkson University
- Richard Carlson, Director, Energy Policy and Energy Exchange Program, Pollution Probe (PDF, 2.6MB)
The Conference Agenda (PDF, 244KB)