Bob manages Trans Mountain’s current pipeline right-of-way and the properties through which it runs in Alberta, BC and Washington State. He also manages the right-of-way and properties connected with the Cochin Pipeline Systems in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

We asked Bob to tell us more about the nature of his job.

What does your job entail?

My job entails arranging for our operations staff to enter onto lands for operations and maintenance, buying and selling any real estate interests required by Trans Mountain and undertaking any communications or negotiations necessary to settle disputed matters between landowners, occupants and the company.

What is your background?

I have worked for Trans Mountain for the past 17 years. After completing a degree in Commerce and Business Administration (Urban Land Economics) in 1978, I worked as a property appraiser doing residential, agricultural, industrial and commercial properties for about 14 years.

I then worked as a land agent/property negotiator with the Greater Vancouver Regional District and the City of Vancouver, before going to MacMillan Bloedel as a Property Administrator. In the latter job, I looked after the company interests in the Lower Mainland and on Vancouver Island, as well as distribution centre leases on the East Coast of the United States.

I am an accredited appraiser, hold an RI(BC) designation from the Real Estate Institute of BC and hold a license as a permanent land agent in Alberta. I have been a member of the International Right of Way Association since 1992.

What drew you to work for Trans Mountain?

It was both the variety of real estate management work and the importance of relationships with the landowners along our pipeline system that was appealing to me. The commercial side of our contractual relationship with our landowners and occupants is one thing, but operating an active pipeline on property owned by all kinds of people with land uses ranging from farming to residential to commercial or industrial in a co-operative and supportive manner is endlessly fascinating for me.

I consider our relationship to be best maintained if we treat people along the pipeline as neighbours first and work respectfully with them. Working successfully through issues is very rewarding personally and I have received support from Trans Mountain to use a “do the right thing” approach as contrasted to a legal attitude. I’ve made lots of friends along the pipeline over the years.

How important is safety to you and your coworkers?

To be honest, I’ve never worked in an industry or company that places more importance on safety to the public, the environment and our own workers. There is zero tolerance within our corporate culture for complacency about what we have to do to maintain the pipeline, prevent damage to it and to maintain high levels of response in the unlikely event of emergencies.

Can you describe the culture of safety at Trans Mountain and why it’s so important?

First of all, Trans Mountain operates in one of the most heavily publicly regulated industries in Canada. The federal and provincial governments require full compliance with all laws, statutes and standards to protect public and environmental safety and do regular audits of companies to ensure compliance.

Further, industry itself is constantly evolving better practices using technology to improve upon its safety record and these evolving technologies are often used over and above minimum regulatory standards. From what I have seen over the past 17 years, people in this company take a lot of pride in providing a transportation service that is safe and reliable. That type of personal ownership is something you simply can’t make up in a policy rule.

How do you feel about the environment?

The environment is where we all live. If we don’t respect and protect it and minimize our impact to every extent possible, over time we are eroding our own ability to survive. When I used to drive to university from the North Shore to UBC, there was an older building beside a vacant lot on Denman Street in Vancouver that I passed each day. Painted on the side of the building was a quote from Chief Seattle (1786 – 1866) that said:

“Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect.”

Doesn’t everyone really believe just that in our hearts? At this time in history, there are billions of people just like us who need goods and services to provide for themselves and their families, and our society has organized over time in a manner to try to best provide for humanity across the earth. How we do that today is not how we did it even a hundred years ago, and in another hundred years it will doubtless change again.

There is always a balance sought between the necessity for human survival and the impact we have on the environment in our efforts to survive. I actually have optimism that as mankind and technologies evolve over time, people will find the right answers to this complex balance. In the meantime, it’s my job to make sure I do everything in my power to play my part in transporting a commodity that is very important to our society right now in a safe manner that protects people and that environment that all life survives in.

What do you love most about your job?

It’s always been the great people I work and deal with, plus the fact that Trans Mountain has always supported me to conduct our business in an open, honest and ethical manner both internally and with our landowners.