EDMONTON – Documents released under Alberta’s Freedom of Information laws confirm the United Conservative Party government was talking to the coal industry about relaxing a policy that protected the Rocky Mountains from strip mines long before making public those plans.
The documents also show the province was talking about opening those landscapes to the potential of further coal development for at least seven months before allowing Albertans to participate in its plans.
The Canadian Press has seen material given to a group of southern Alberta ranchers who have waged a four-year battle against Alberta Energy to understand why the province rescinded a decades-old policy that protected the Rocky Mountains from mines. of coal.
That decision sparked a surge of interest in coal exploration across thousands of hectares. It was eventually rescinded after a huge public outcry from citizens who did not want open-pit coal mines in some of the province’s most beloved landscapes.
Last week, a judge blocked the government’s attempts to block further release of documents related to the decision, and ranchers are now waiting for thousands more pages.
During question period Tuesday, NDP Opposition Leader Rachel Notley asked for an apology from the UCP for forcing ranchers to go to court to obtain the documents.
Premier Danielle Smith said the government will make sure everyone gets the required documents, which were generated during former Premier Jason Kenney’s administration.
“We will respect the court’s decision,” Smith said. “We have obviously had a change of leadership in this file and we will make available all documents that the court requires.”
Energy Minister Brian Jean said the government has already released a lot of information on coal policy.
The documents also show the province was talking about opening those landscapes to the potential of further coal development for at least seven months before allowing Albertans to participate in its plans.
“(The judge’s) decision is under review to determine whether an appeal should be filed,” he said in a statement Tuesday. “We recognize that there is a public interest related to coal production in Alberta.”
Records already obtained repeatedly refer to meetings and communications with the industry about the policy long before it was rescinded in May 2020.
A note to the assistant deputy minister of energy dated January 20, 2020, which is partially redacted, says: “The coal sector has requested (redacted) the elimination of the coal policy for several years.”
A note three days later from another Alberta Energy official says: “We are aware of the coal industry’s concerns.”
On March 5, 2020, the deputy ministers of Alberta Energy and Alberta Environmental Protection met with the Canadian Coal Association.
A March 9 planning document states: “The coal industry has communicated to Alberta that it would like to see the coal categories rescinded or significantly updated so it can have access to a modern regulatory system like any other resource industry.”
At that time, planning for major changes to the policy that had protected the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains since 1976 was underway. A document, titled “Coal Policy – Coal Categories Review Project Charter,” was signed by officials from Energy, Environment and the Alberta Energy Regulator on October 29, 2019, six months after the UCP took office for the first time.
Among the goals of the letter was to reduce “regulatory uncertainty that leads to underinvestment by the coal industry,” it says.
No municipalities, environmental groups, First Nations or other organizations have said they were contacted for comment before the decision was announced on May 15, 2020, the Friday before the long weekend.
The documents were delivered to ranchers in five separate packages between 2021 and 2023. They are heavily redacted based on exemptions allowed by law. Of the documents received, 605 pages are partially deleted and 748 are completely blank.
The province’s Information and Privacy Commissioner has said many of those exemptions were misused and ordered Alberta Energy to produce the requested records. The government requested a judicial review of that decision, but a King’s Court judge on Friday rejected the request.
“Democracy dies in darkness,” wrote Justice Kent Teskey.
Richard Harrison, attorney for the ranchers, said between 5,191 and 5,939 additional documents are expected. He said the government has admitted to several of the redactions but has not provided the information.
“Despite abandoning those arguments for almost a year, ranchers have not received the records,” he wrote in an email. “The redactions (granted) have not been removed and are still being asserted.”
Laura Laing, one of the ranchers who wants the documents, said she and her colleagues just want to know why.
“We were trying to better understand how these decisions were made in the first place,” he said in an interview Monday.
The delays and redactions didn’t seem right, Laing said.
“We didn’t feel like this was transparent and we didn’t feel like it was fair to us or Albertans.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 16, 2024.