Opposition NDP, First Nation chief want public review of Alberta Energy Regulator

Alberta’s New Democrat Opposition and a prominent First Nations leader are calling for a review of the province’s energy regulator to be held in public, with public input.

Opposition environment critic Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse says the current process, led by a longtime supporter of conservative parties in Alberta, is too secretive.

“Albertans deserve unbiased public oversight,” she said.

“This should be a public review, not a secretive review that the United Conservatives had their paid friend to conduct behind closed doors.”

A recently released document shows David Yager, a longtime oilpatch executive, journalist and conservative activist and fundraiser, is being paid $70,000 to review the Alberta Energy Regulator.

Calahoo Stonehouse said that isn’t good enough.

“We need public oversight that isn’t biased,” she said.

She’s calling for a revamped regulator with new leadership, particularly in light of repeated releases of wastewater from oilsands operations.

<div align=center>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USJvheg2t-E</div>

Above video: April 17, 2023 testimony before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development by Chief Allan Adam of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation.

“At every opportunity, the (regulator) has dismissed our concerns,” Chief Allan Adam said.

Adam said the agency is still investigating two releases of wastewater from Imperial Oil’s Kearl oilsands plant that happened last spring. Meanwhile, another release earlier this month sent another 670,000 litres of water in the Muskeg River that had four times the amount of sediment in it that regulations allow. |Read more https://globalnews.ca/news/10118754/opposition-ndp-first-nation-chief-want-public-review-alberta-energy-regulator/ | globalnews.ca/news/10118754/op…

#abpoli #environment #AER #review #NDP #KearlOilsands #leak

Rising costs causing ‘inflation isolation’ among Canadians, poll finds

In the wake of high inflation, Canadians find themselves facing a twofold dilemma, one that not only burdens their wallets but also takes a toll on their mental health, according to a recent Ipsos poll.

The poll, released Monday and commissioned by MNP Ltd., found that higher costs and interest rates are causing “inflation isolation,” as more than half of the respondents (51 per cent) said they are staying home more to save money.

A third of respondents said they are spending less time socializing or hanging out with friends in order to cut costs.

“Canadians are feeling mental anguish with rising inflation and interest rates,” Grant Bazian, president of MNP Ltd., told Global News. “People are scared of spending money and as a result, they’re staying at home and not doing things they normally would and feeling isolated as a result.”

One in five respondents reported feeling a sense of social isolation or loneliness as a result of higher interest rates and inflation, according to the poll. Faced with the constant worry of making ends meet, two in five respondents said the current economic conditions have led to increased stress and anxiety.

For those respondents who rated their personal debt as “terrible,” the poll found they were significantly more likely to feel increased stress (77 per cent), anxiety (72 per cent), stay home more often (72 per cent), and spend less time socializing (55 per cent) to save money, compared to those who rated their personal debt situation as “excellent.”

According to the poll, younger Canadians and those earning less than $40,000 were most likely to reduce their socializing and time spent with friends, leading to more social isolation and loneliness. |Read more https://globalnews.ca/news/10112952/inflation-isolation-canada-poll/ | globalnews.ca/news/10112952/in…

#cdnpoli #MentalHealth #healtcare #depression #inflation #scared #money

Possible class-action lawsuit filed in Alberta over child special allowance payments

The Alberta and federal governments are facing a potential class-action lawsuit over how the province handled payments for children in care.

A statement of claim filed Friday alleges Alberta took payments received from Ottawa that were meant to provide benefits for children in care and folded them into general revenue to offset the amount it spent on maintenance of such children.

“If a child comes into care, the child shouldn’t be deprived of that benefit,” lawyer Kris Saxberg, who’s handling the case, said Monday.

Similar to cases already filed in other provinces, the statement of claim singles out the federal Children’s Special Allowance, a payment meant to ensure children in foster care receive equal treatment to those receiving the Canada Child Benefit.

Those payments were calculated at $620 per month for a child under six and $520 for a child between six and 18. However, the statement of claim alleges that for many children, the province of Alberta applied that money against what it was spending on regular foster care maintenance payments.

The children missing out were mostly Indigenous and were being cared for off-reserve, the document says.

The lawsuit, which hasn’t yet been certified as a class action, could apply to thousands of Albertans, Saxberg added.

“We expect it could be as many as 30,000 people that could be affected.”

Saxberg said the federal government is also named in the suit because it had the responsibility to ensure its funds were being used appropriately. |Read more https://globalnews.ca/news/10118656/possible-class-action-lawsuit-alberta-child-special-allowance-payments/ | globalnews.ca/news/10118656/po…

#abpoli #cdnpoli #ClassAction #lawsuit #payments #indigenous #children

Smith invokes sovereignty act on green electricity, concedes it’s for symbolic effect

Smith invokes sovereignty act on green electricity, concedes it’s for symbolic effect

Premier Danielle Smith invoked Alberta’s sovereignty act on Monday to implement new measures in her fight against Ottawa’s looming clean electricity rules while conceding she didn’t need the act to put the changes in place.

Smith said she wanted to invoke the act to send a message that her government is serious about pushing back against Ottawa’s plan to green Canada’s electricity grid by 2035, a plan she says could wreak havoc on Alberta’s natural-gas-based grid.

Monday’s motion calls for Smith’s government to empower provincial officials and regulators to not co-operate with federal rules tied to the 2035 green grid — but not to the point that they break the law.

In Ottawa, federal Energy Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said he is bewildered by Alberta’s move toward using the sovereignty act against proposed clean electricity regulations. He said he thought the two governments had been moving toward a consensus.

Energy Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said, “This is a triumph of politics over good public policy,” he told The Canadian Press in an interview.

“This is exactly what Canadians should be encouraging their politicians to avoid.”

Alberta Opposition NDP Leader Rachel Notley said her caucus will not be voting for the motion. She said it is premised on flawed legislation and wildly inaccurate assumptions about the electricity rules.

“The so-called sovereignty act is an illegal stunt,” Notley told reporters.

“Unfortunately, it is a stunt with real-world consequences. It undermines investment certainty. It challenges our respect for the rule of law. It breaches treaty rights all over Canada, but especially here in Alberta, and it declares to the world that we just don’t care about tackling climate change.” |Read more https://globalnews.ca/news/10117710/alberta-government-sovereignty-act-plans/ | globalnews.ca/news/10117710/al…

#abpoli #sovereigntyAct #net-zero #CleanEnergy #smith #trudeau #wilkinson #notley #illegal #stunt