Important Time to Pay Attention as Alberta Brings in A New Regulatory Framework
October 23, 2012
Today the Alberta fall session of the legislature opens. The opposition parties are chomping at the bit ready to roast the government on a whole host of issues, from healthcare to rotten beef! The session is expected to last 6 weeks and the Redford government has indicated they will be pushing a vigorous agenda sitting in the evenings as well as during the day.
A couple of items on the agenda should especially catch landowners attention:
Bill 202 introduced by PC MLA Neil Brown is the Grasslands Protection Act. This is kind of a strange one. A private members bill that has implications for private property on the eastern slopes and in the Special Areas. Private member bills usually never go anywhere so it will be interesting to see just how hard the government pushes this one?
The new "Competitive Regulatory Review for Oil & Gas" will be introduced in this session. Touted as a means to simplify onerous regulations for oil and gas developement, while enhancing environmental protection, it is in fact a "one stop shop" for the oil companies! No more trotting around getting approvals from Environment, Sustainable Resources, and the ERCB when applying for a well, pipeline, compressor station, or oil sands developement!
Environment and Sustainable Resources and Energy will all be rolled into a "Super Regulator", which will make all the decisions. This "Super Regulator" will dictate all developement, environmental monitoring, landowner compensation, and any and all objections to whatever the O&G industry desire! It is assumed this "Super Regulator" will answer directly to Energy Minister Ken Hughes......and CAPP (Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers). Energy Minister Hughes is no stranger to "Super Boards" as he was the big boss of the "Healthcare Superboard" that was supposed to fix up the mess at Alberta Healthcare Services. He will be a good choice as he is already well versed in collaborating with and taking orders from CAPP!
It is important for landowners to pay attention when this legislation is introduced and debated! We must make sure the opposition understands we expect them to try to protect our rights! We need to be ready to act if this legislation takes away our basic rights to our private property and denies us due process of law! This might involve more than bitching about it down at the coffee shop, or grumbling and moaning to the neighbours!
We are in a real danger of losing everything we and our fellow travellers have achieved in Alberta on property rights, protection of our land and water, and fair and just compensation for oil and gas developement!
Be aware! This might be a watershed moment for your farm or ranch!
ASRG
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October 23, 2012
Today the Alberta fall session of the legislature opens. The opposition parties are chomping at the bit ready to roast the government on a whole host of issues, from healthcare to rotten beef! The session is expected to last 6 weeks and the Redford government has indicated they will be pushing a vigorous agenda sitting in the evenings as well as during the day.
A couple of items on the agenda should especially catch landowners attention:
Bill 202 introduced by PC MLA Neil Brown is the Grasslands Protection Act. This is kind of a strange one. A private members bill that has implications for private property on the eastern slopes and in the Special Areas. Private member bills usually never go anywhere so it will be interesting to see just how hard the government pushes this one?
The new "Competitive Regulatory Review for Oil & Gas" will be introduced in this session. Touted as a means to simplify onerous regulations for oil and gas developement, while enhancing environmental protection, it is in fact a "one stop shop" for the oil companies! No more trotting around getting approvals from Environment, Sustainable Resources, and the ERCB when applying for a well, pipeline, compressor station, or oil sands developement!
Environment and Sustainable Resources and Energy will all be rolled into a "Super Regulator", which will make all the decisions. This "Super Regulator" will dictate all developement, environmental monitoring, landowner compensation, and any and all objections to whatever the O&G industry desire! It is assumed this "Super Regulator" will answer directly to Energy Minister Ken Hughes......and CAPP (Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers). Energy Minister Hughes is no stranger to "Super Boards" as he was the big boss of the "Healthcare Superboard" that was supposed to fix up the mess at Alberta Healthcare Services. He will be a good choice as he is already well versed in collaborating with and taking orders from CAPP!
It is important for landowners to pay attention when this legislation is introduced and debated! We must make sure the opposition understands we expect them to try to protect our rights! We need to be ready to act if this legislation takes away our basic rights to our private property and denies us due process of law! This might involve more than bitching about it down at the coffee shop, or grumbling and moaning to the neighbours!
We are in a real danger of losing everything we and our fellow travellers have achieved in Alberta on property rights, protection of our land and water, and fair and just compensation for oil and gas developement!
Be aware! This might be a watershed moment for your farm or ranch!
ASRG
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