Alberta Headed for Showdown With Angry Landowners Over Bill 46

By Jim Macdonald, THE CANADIAN PRESS

EDMONTON – Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach’s tussle with rural landowners over legislation to streamline utility hearings is quickly becoming a street brawl.

Bill 46 would eliminate third-party funding to consumer and environmental groups that have become a fixture at regulatory hearings into proposals for oilwells and power lines.

Instead, the province would beef up the role of the Utilities Consumer Advocate, a government-appointed agent that until now has been largely invisible.

Landowners say the government is trying to stifle voices of protest by severely limiting who can participate in hearings and who gets funding as an intervener.

Calgary Mayor Dave Bronconnier is the latest heavyweight to join the fray, calling on Stelmach to suspend further consideration of the bill until the public is fully consulted. Bronconnier wrote a letter last week to the premier warning that passing the bill as is would mean that “utility issues important to some Albertans may not be addressed.”

The frustration with Bill 46 has been drawing large crowds to rural town hall meetings, including 350 who packed a Nov. 7 gathering in Lacombe.

“There’s so many flaws inside this bill and so many contradictions, they’ll probably never get it right,” says landowner Joe Anglin, who has been a key figure at the town hall meetings.

“So they’ve got to just stop and recreate it right from the floor up.”

The mood is still foul in Alberta’s heartland after the Energy and Utilities Board was caught spying on landowners attending hearings for a controversial power line between Edmonton and Calgary. This makes Bill 46 a tough sell.

But Energy Minister Mel Knight remains undaunted, saying critics of the bill are distorting the facts and causing a lot of agitation among landowners.

“People are misrepresenting what this bill does,” Knight said in an interview. “They’re saying ‘Well, you’re changing this, you’re doing that, you’re causing problems with people’s ability to be represented.”‘

“The majority of those things are actually lifted directly from legislation that we’re operating under right now.”

About 60,000 applications were made for regulatory approval last year, but only about 20 hearings were held.

“They’re saying that you should have a hearing for everything,” said the minister. “How could you hold 60,000 hearings for applications? It’s not making very much common sense.”

The minister plans to amend Bill 46 to change some of the more contentious wording but said he’s not backing down.

“Did I expect a free ride? No.”

Liberal energy critic Hugh MacDonald says there are many sinister aspects to Bill 46 that the government seems to want Albertans to ignore.

“Opposition is growing to this bill in both rural Alberta and the large urban centres,” said MacDonald. “We now have the mayor of Calgary asking that this bill be pulled and a full series of public consultations held.”

MacDonald says public confidence in Alberta’s regulatory process “just went in the trench” once the spying scandal made headlines.

“If we’re going to restore public confidence, we’re not going to do it with this confrontational legislation.”

Knight counters that the energy and utilities board currently has a “tremendous workload in front of them,” so the legislation will help the situation.

“It seriously affects Albertans, and we believe we have a proper formula to go forward.”

At a recent Greenpeace demonstration in front of the legislature, protesters held copies of George Orwell’s “1984,” a novel about a totalitarian society led by Big Brother.

“Really, it is where this province is heading with this legislation, taking away the rights of ordinary people and anybody who tries to speak out against energy projects,” said organizer Mike Hudema.

Alberta’s energy and utilities regulator has a reputation for rubber-stamping projects, and Bill 46 would likely make things worse, he said.

“When you look at projects like the Alberta tarsands … it really is an environmental catastrophe that’s taking place in Fort McMurray.

“That’s because we don’t have a body that is acting in the public interest and trying to strike a balance between the environment and development.”

Greenpeace and the landowners plan another protest Tuesday at the legislature as debate continues on Bill 46.