Alberta's New Democratic opposition says the province's energy minister is undermining the independence of the supposedly independent energy regulator and dictating what it should do.
Nagwan Al-Guneid said Brian Jean should not have written to Alberta Energy Regulator It was recommended that it accept three applications for coal exploration, despite a government order banning all such development in the province's Rocky Mountains.
The letter is now the subject of litigation in Alberta Supreme Court, with one municipality challenging the minister's attempt to tell regulators how to rule.
Al-Guneid said Jean should work to improve the regulator's credibility and deal with Alberta's thousands of abandoned wells and other liabilities.
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Ron Davis, president of the Ranchland Municipal District, called Gene’s letter a political interference in a decision that should be based on reason and facts.
Northback Holdings wants to build an open-pit coal mine in the southwestern corner of the province's Rocky Mountains, but the project has been rejected by provincial and federal environmental reviews.
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