Social License

One of 1,864: off shore from Kingston, a Thousand Island

Once in Toronto after my long weekend in Winnipeg, I hopped on a train to Kingston to the Duncan Gordon Conference Centre, which I blogged about four years ago.

In 2014, I attended a two-week course there, billed as "executive training." Readers may recall that all I got from that experience was a case of shingles.  

This week, I went to CAMPUT's intensive energy regulation course for members and staff of energy panels across the country (for the benefit of subscribers, those include the British Columbia Utilities Commission, the Manitoba Public Utilities Board and the Ontario Energy Board). 

The course has been held every year for the past fourteen years. I went because one of my managers told me it would be a quick way to understand how energy policy gets implemented.

He was right. The course was terrific. My one regret is that I missed the first day because of the long commute from Winnipeg.

Shy

While I am glad not to be at the Ministry of the Environment - especially since the election - I struggle with the transition to my new role. 

I don't know anybody in the energy sector. After twenty years in the environment gig, I could walk into a room, no matter how big, and know just about everyone in it. I used to be the person who went around to the newbies and introduced myself to make them feel a bit more at home. Now I'm the one looking for just one familiar face - just one - so I can be spared the agony of being alone in a sea of strangers. 

I am fundamentally an introverted person. Talking to strangers is something I've learned to do, not love to do. So this past week was a lot of work. I spent most of my spare time in my room recharging the batteries in my devices and in my head. 

Madame Chair

Thursday was "moot court" day at the course. We had to pretend to hold a hearing. The issue was whether or not TransCanada Pipelines could recover the costs of its move from Toronto to swanky offices in Calgary from the "rate payer", which is to say its customers - people like you and me.

We were separated into groups representing the different parties before the National Energy Board. I was in the group representing the Board itself. Our group had to pick our roles. Three were to be the panel. Three were to be board counsel. I wanted to be on the panel and said so. Because I volunteered so quickly, my group nominated me to be the chair of the panel. 

At that point, I became "Madame Chair." The low stakes of our play acting made this funny, and we riffed on the joke for the rest of the course, even as I bade farewell to some folks from the Ontario Energy Board when our train arrived in Toronto on Friday afternoon.

I've had worse nicknames.

Thanks for reading!

Have a great week!

Karen