The Northern Gateway joint review panel hearing in Bella Bella will finally get underway at 1 p.m. -- a day-and-a-half after it was supposed to begin.
Heiltsuk First Nation Chief Councillor Marilyn Slett says the three-member panel has confirmed the hearing will go ahead, but she says there's no indication how time will be found for the testimony missed yesterday and this morning.
According to Slett, evidence from more than half a dozen hereditary chiefs, elders and high-ranking women is affected, and the First Nation is now juggling the speakers list to ensure time for those who have travelled to the tiny central coast village to make a submission.
The first of four days of hearings was abruptly cancelled late Sunday and the Heiltsuk say panel members were unnerved by a rowdy welcome -- but the National Energy Board says the three federal appointees considering Enbridge's plan for an oil pipeline across B.C. scrubbed the first day of hearings while trying to resolve logistical issues.
