At A Glance: June 7 - 18
In the Media
Stage 3 of Reopening
Last week, Premier Jason Kenney announced that the province had surpassed the threshold required to trigger the transition period to the final stage of Alberta’s Open for Summer plan. As of Thursday, 70 per cent of eligible residents (aged 12+ years) have received at least their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Reopening is slatted to begin on July 1st.
In Stage 3, all public health restrictions (including capacity limits and indoor gatherings) will be lifted. There will remain some measures to protect continuing care facilities along with isolation requirements.
KXL Terminated & Albertans on The Hook for $1.3 Billion
Only months after American President Joe Biden revoked its permit, developer TC Energy Corp. has officially cancelled its $9 billion Keystone XL Pipeline (KXL). Alberta been fighting in favor of the construction of this oil pipeline for over a decade, first under Premier Ed Stelmach until its cancellation under Premier Jason Kenney. The project was cancelled by President Biden, who served as Vice President underneath President Barack Obama who notoriously opposed the pipeline despite Premier Alison Redford’s efforts to promote it. The Obama and Biden administrations were not the only opposition that the KXL faced, with a number of environmentalists, Indigenous groups and landowners vehemently opposing the pipeline.
On the flip side, the majority of Albertans, Saskatchewan residents, and several Indigenous groups that all would reap economic benefits from the KXL heavily supported the project. Alberta’s UCP government took a $1.5 billion equity stake in the project and provided it with a $6 billion loan guarantee last year in an attempt to expedite the construction process. Albertans are now estimated to face a loss of $1.3 billion with the cancellation of this pipeline.
Invest Alberta Corp Chief Executive Resigns
This past week David Knight Legg resigned from his post as the chief executive of Invest Alberta Corp. His reasons for leaving were stated to be family related in an interview on Thursday, as Legg hasn’t seen his 12-year-old son in Singapore for 18 months due to COVID-19 related restrictions.
Legg had only committed to 2 years of working for the government’s arms-length corporation to promote and help diversify Alberta’s economy, where he has served now for 2 and a half years. He will be headed to Asia, from where he will continue to serve as a senior adviser to the board of the Crown Corporation as he still has a number of large projects underway.
Joint Panel Denies Approval for Grassy Mountain Coal Project
Following a rigorous review process by Alberta Energy Regulator and Impact Assessment Agency of Canada, the Joint Review Panel denied approval for the Grassy Mountain Coal Project in the Crowsnest Pass. The review determined that the project would result in adverse environmental effects on surface water quality.
These adverse effects particularly impacted westslope cutthroat trout and their habitat. In a statement, Minister of Energy Sonya Savage and Minister of Environment Jason Nixon recognized the critical importance of protecting Alberta’s lands while developing natural resources. They stated Alberta’s Government is committed to responsible resource development.
Metis Nation of Alberta Suing Province Over Consultation Policy
The Metis Nation of Alberta (MNA) is taking the Government of Alberta to court over refusing to negotiate a consultation policy framework. Discussions on how the government could best consult with Metis on matters such as resource development have been underway since 2014, and a draft policy was agreed on in 2018 with the former NDP government. Following the 2019 election, the MNA claim that the UCP government cancelled negotiations without warning.
The MNA further states that the government has ignored their requests to continue working on the policy, alleging that the UCP are treating the MNA as second-class Indigenous people and perpetuating systemic racism. The Minister of Indigenous Relations’ only response thus far is that they are aware of the lawsuit but find it inappropriate to comment on a matter before the courts.
