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                                                                    EXHIBIT 31.1
                                  CERTIFICATION

I, William R. Cordes, certify that:

1. I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Northern Border
Partners, L.P.;

2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a
material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements
made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not
misleading with respect to the period covered by this report; 3. Based on my
knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in
this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition,
results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the
periods presented in this report; 4. The registrant's other certifying officer
and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and
procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the
registrant and have:

      a)    Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such
            disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our
            supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the
            registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known
            to us by others within those entities, particularly during the
            period in which this report is being prepared;

      b)    Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure controls
            and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about
            the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of
            the end of the period covered by this report based on such
            evaluation; and

      c)    Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's internal
            control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules
            13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) that occurred during the registrant's most
            recent fiscal quarter (the registrant's fourth fiscal quarter in the
            case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is
            reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant's internal
            control over financial reporting; and

5. The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our
most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the
registrant's auditors and the audit committee of registrant's board of directors
(or persons performing the equivalent functions):

      a)    All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design
            or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are
            reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's ability to
            record, process, summarize and report financial information; and

      b)    Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or
            other employees who have a significant role in the registrant's
            internal control over financial reporting.


Date: November 13, 2003                      /s/ William R. Cordes
                                           -------------------------------------
                                           William R. Cordes
                                           Chief Executive Officer