An Alberta judge stymied the Alberta government’s efforts to block the release of information about the controversial 2020 decision to open the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains to coal mining.
In a strongly worded decision, Justice Kent Teskey warned the government that courts would not support using delays to neuter public attempts to understand how important decisions are made.
In May 2020, Jason Kenney’s government quietly sidestepped the province’s long-standing 1976 Coal Policy, which emphasized watershed, nature, tourism, and recreation values and strictly laid out where, when, and how coal mining could occur.
The cancellation of the nearly 50-year-old policy triggered a frenzy of new coal exploration applications.
Soon after, a group of southern Alberta ranchers filed a request under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIP) for all government documents related to the decision.
After 15 months of delays, the government initially released just 30 pages of memos, emails, and internal briefings.
After a long fight, the ranchers received more than 600 pages of documents, but much of the text was redacted or blacked out.
The province refused to release any more documents, citing exemptions to the disclosure laws.
The ranchers appealed, and the Information and Privacy Commissioner agreed with them, throwing out the exemptions claimed by the province.
However, the provincial government wasn’t finished with its stalling tactics.
To further block disclosure, Smith’s government asked for a judicial review of the commissioner’s decision.
Two weeks ago, the courts said no to that stalling tactic.
Justice Teskey ordered the province to release a mountain of documents, which is expected to include more evidence of coal industry lobbying before the Coal Policy was rescinded.
For example, one partially redacted document already released contains a note to the Assistant Deputy Minister of Energy dated January 20, 2020, that reads: “The coal sector has requested (redacted) removal of the coal policy for several years.”
Government Fingers Get Slapped
Justice Teskey’s ruling strongly criticized the Alberta government for stifling public debate around coal mining.
He wrote, “The requesting parties have been practically denied access to the information they are entitled to at law, and this court will not abet this conduct through the availability of judicial review.”
Justice Teskey added that cabinet confidence is essential for free and open discussions but that “it does not exist to allow governing in secrecy.”
“Every Albertan is entitled to a broad right of access to the records of their government. This is an essential pillar of a functional democracy,” he wrote.
Gritty Determination
Laura Laing of Plateau Cattle Company near Nanton is one of the ranchers who requested the original information.
In an interview with The Canadian Press, Laing said it’s like the government “expects people to give up.”
“We’re ranchers. We’re gritty. It’ll probably take years to remove all the redactions, but we’re determined,” she said.
Following a severe public backlash, the Alberta government reinstated the Coal Policy in 2021.
However, Laing said the fight continues.
Northback Holdings, owned by Australia’s richest billionaire, has applied for a coal exploration drilling permit on Grassy Mountain, located near the headwaters of the Old Man River.
Relying on fancy loopholes, the Alberta Energy Regulator has accepted the application and plans to take it to a public hearing later this spring.
In 2021, a Joint Review Panel (JRP) made up of the Alberta Energy Regulator and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency rejected Benga Mining Ltd.’s coal mine application for the same Grassy Mountain coal deposit.
The JRP concluded that the mine was “not in the public interest.”
Benga was a subsidiary of the same Australian company that owns Northback.
Everyone, including the ranchers, thought the project was dead.
But like a zombie that you just can’t kill, coal mining on the eastern slopes of the Rockies keeps coming back, thanks to secrecy, stalling and fancy footwork from the provincial government under the last two UCP Premiers.
“Nothing about this coal file has made sense from the beginning. We and Albertans deserve to know the truth behind decisions like this,” Laing told The Canadian Press.
The saga continues, but our ranchers won’t give up.
Now, that’s true grit.
