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Chairman Robert Blanchard,
thanks very much.

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>> Thank you very much for
having me.

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>> Next week, Enbridge and
the DNR will present their

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cases in the fourth public
hearing on the proposed

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reroute of line five.
Jennifer Smith is the

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director of US tribal
engagement for Enbridge.

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She joins us now. And
thanks very much for being

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here.
>> Thanks for having me.

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>> So, as you know, the
legal fight over line five,

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as it's known, has been
ongoing for years. Why is

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it worth it to your company
to persist?

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>> Sure. So the project
that we've proposed is

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related to our line five
pipeline. Line five is

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critical for supplying the
energy that our Midwest,

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Great Lakes regions all
rely on. Millions of us

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every day are using the end
products that line five is

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transporting to ten
different refineries. It's

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providing natural gas
liquids to other companies

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that will extract the
propane and deliver it to

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the homes throughout the
region. And so we have a

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responsibility to make sure
that we can continue to

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safely deliver that energy
that we're all relying on.

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And the project we propose
this project almost five

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years ago, over four years,
and initiated the project

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permits, because this is in
response to the Band River

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Band request that we remove
line five from the

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reservation, which it
currently crosses.

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>> So your company has an
indigenous reconciliation

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action plan that includes
acknowledging and

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historical lack of
inclusion of indigenous

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people and their well being.
Additionally, the Enbridge

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CEO states, we have learned
that what we do today

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impacts the next seven
generations, and we have a

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responsibility, he says, to
preserve and care for the

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land. Learn from her
original inhabitants,

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inhabitants and move
forward together in the

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spirit of healing,
reconciliation and

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responsibilities seriously.
So how does that statement

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square with the pitched
legal fight with the Bad

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River over line five.
>> In specific to the

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Indigenous Reconciliation
Action Plan? Our first plan

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was issued in 2022 that we
call it the Irap identified

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22 tangible commitments and
actions that we can take as

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a company to try and work
with tribal communities.

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And since that time, you
know, there have been a

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number of successes to that
in terms of, you know,

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making sure that our tribal
contractors, tribal

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community members are able
to work with Enbridge and

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economically participate in
what is it that we do? I

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will point out that, you
know, it was the band that

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sued Enbridge back in 2019
regarding line five

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crossing the reservation.
And so even with, you know,

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we are full steam ahead on
this project, we fully

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expect to see the permits
get reaffirmed. But at the

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same time, we we want to
work with the Band River

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Band and tribal community
to we'd rather work

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together.
>> How do you respond to

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the concerns from those
challenging the permit that

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a pipeline spill could
impact the tribal

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communities very way of
life? That depends on clean

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water and wetlands for food
sources?

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>> First of all, I'll say
we all depend on clean

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water as humans, and so we
all have a vested interest

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in safety and environmental
protection. You know, we

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are operating these
pipelines. There are

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hundreds of thousands of
miles of pipelines across

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the US that operate every
day quietly, safely. We

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don't hear about them. And
and so, you know, Enbridge

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for one, has invested
billions of dollars over

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the years into the
integrity of our systems.

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We are monitoring these
pipelines 365 days a year,

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24 hours a day, seven days
a week. We are continuously

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running tools and doing
checks to make sure that we

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know the integrity of our
pipeline. We know that it's

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safe.
>> So what happens if this

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reroute is rejected?
>> The DNR did an

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environmental impact
statement, which was done

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over four plus years, and
it concluded that those

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impacts will be minimal,
temporary and localized,

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just like with most, if not
any, you know, all

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construction projects. And
so we fully believe that

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when we get through the
contested case process, the

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permits will be affirmed
and we'll be able to start

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construction, and we're
ready to do that as soon as

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we get all the approvals
we get all the approvals