National Energy Board surveying pipeline landowners again

The National Energy Board (NEB) is once again conducting a telephone survey of pipeline landowners and tenants to seek their views on "their experiences with companies that operate pipelines which cross their property" and "their experiences with the NEB".  The NEB hopes to compare the 2011 results with those of surveys done in 2001 and 2004 to "determine how key indicators have changed over time".  The choice of landowners is to be random, says the NEB:

Ipsos Reid, a nationally-recognized research firm, will conduct the telephone survey on behalf of the NEB. It is important to note that not all landowners will be contacted for the survey. Ipsos Reid will select a random sample of landowners, using landowner lists provided to it by NEB-regulated pipeline companies. The randomly-selected landowners will be contacted by telephone in late summer 2011.

A letter was sent by the NEB to all of its regulated pipeline companies on May 17, 2011 asking the companies to submit landowner contact information to Ipsos Reid.  The NEB noted in the letter that the Office of Privacy Commissioner indicated that the companies "should obtain" landowner consent before releasing their contact information to the Board for purposes of conducting the survey.  This privacy issue and the need to seek landowner consent in order to conduct the survey would tend to diminish the randomness of the survey group selection.  Any landowner who chooses not to allow the release of his or her personal information would not be eligible to take part in the survey.