Minister Oliver puts Joint Review Panel members in awkward position

Read the article by Professor Nigel Bankes that discusses the January 9, 2012 "open letter" from the Hon. Joe Oliver, Minister of Natural Resources (click here).  This is the letter in which Mr. Oliver referred to "radicals" who will "hijack our regulatory system".  Professor Bankes wonders about the effect of the letter on the ongoing regulatory process:

For example, put yourself in the position of a JRP panel member. What would you think if the Minister responsible for the Board announced that: (1) the current system is broken, and (2) the NGP is clearly and obviously in the national interest (aka public convenience and necessity) the day before you had to open the hearings in one of the most affected communities? And more importantly, imagine the challenge facing that panel in convincing the community that the fix was not already in and that the job of the panel was to conduct a careful, independent and impartial review of the project.