Author: Drew Yewchuk Page 7 of 19

B.A. (UAlberta) J.D. (UCalgary) LLM (U.B.C.) Drew was a full-time staff lawyer with the University of Calgary's Public Interest Law Clinic from 2018-2022. He is now an PhD student at the Peter A. Allard School of Law. His research focuses on administrative secrecy, access to information law, species at risk, resource law, and environmental liabilities.

By: Drew Yewchuk

Decision Commented on: Alphabow Energy Ltd: Regulatory Appeals of AER Orders (Regulatory Appeals 1943516 and 1943521), 2024 ABAER 001 (Alphabow)

PDF Version: Alphabow’s Regulatory Appeal: The AER Hearing Panel Misunderstood Their Job

This is a comment on an Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) hearing panel decision following a regulatory appeal of enforcement action against a company that was failing to meet the AER’s expectations for regulatory compliance.

Because of an administrative law mistake by the AER hearing panel, the decision is not what it should be. The AER’s handling of financially troubled corporations with large closure liabilities, significant unpaid debts, compliance troubles, and financial problems is a multi-billion dollar policy problem for Alberta. The decision should have assessed the AER’s policy approach to one of these companies, but the hearing panel misunderstood their role and assessed only procedural fairness and ‘reasonableness’ in the restricted sense that word applies on judicial review. As a result, the decision is less interesting than it should be, since it only finds that what the AER did was legal and says nothing about whether it was good policy or in the public interest.

Misunderstanding Cooperative Federalism: Environment and Climate Change Canada Unreasonably Failed to Protect Migratory Bird Habitat

By Drew Yewchuk

On February 19, 2024

In Protection of Species

By: Drew Yewchuk

Case Commented on: Western Canada Wilderness Committee v Canada (Environment and Climate Change), 2024 FC 167 (CanLII)

PDF Version: Misunderstanding Cooperative Federalism: Environment and Climate Change Canada Unreasonably Failed to Protect Migratory Bird Habitat

Western Canada Wilderness Committee v Canada (Environment and Climate Change), 2024 FC 167 (CanLII) is a recent decision of the Federal Court rejecting the federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change’s restrictive interpretation of migratory bird habitat under the Species at Risk Act, SC 2002, c 29 (SARA). The decision also offers some interesting notes about co-operative federalism in the environmental context.

Information Shall be Released: The Long Wait for Access to Government Information in Alberta

By Drew Yewchuk

On January 17, 2024

In Privacy

By: Drew Yewchuk

Decision Commented on: University of Alberta (Re), 2023 CanLII 122872 (AB OIPC)

PDF Version: Information Shall be Released: The Long Wait for Access to Government Information in Alberta

This post is another installment in the Public Interest Law Clinic’s work on improving access to government information in Alberta. See previous posts here, here, here, and here.

Re University of Alberta, OIPC Order F2023-46 is a decision of an adjudicator at the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC), the administrative review body for Alberta’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, RSA 2000, c F-25 (FOIP). The decision draws out an important principle of access to government records: that no refusal of access ought to be permanent. Eventually, all government records should become public. This post provides the basics of when exceptions to disclosure expire and when a request can be usefully re-filed to obtain previously-redacted information.

Comments on the AER’s Draft Regulations for Rock-Hosted Mineral Mining

By Drew Yewchuk

On November 9, 2023

In Energy

By: Drew Yewchuk

Regulatory Documents Commented on: AER Bulletin 2023-36: Invitation for Feedback on Proposed New Requirements for Rock-Hosted Mineral Resource Development; Draft Directive 0XX: Rock-Hosted Mineral Resource Development

PDF Version: Comments on the AER’s Draft Regulations for Rock-Hosted Mineral Mining

Despite the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER)’s poor reputation and history of scandals, the Alberta government expanded the role of the AER to include a broader role in regulating mining operations. In March 2023 changes to the Responsible Energy Development Act, SA 2012, c R-17.3 gave the AER new powers to regulate almost all types of mining under the Mineral Resource Development Act, SA 2021, c M-16.8. In my view, expanding the mandate and role of the AER is a mistake given their institutional failures and the public’s justified low confidence in the AER.

Freedom of Information: Brokering Access for Records on Oil and Gas Liability Management at the AER

By Drew Yewchuk

On October 11, 2023

In Privacy

By: Drew Yewchuk

Matter Commented On: “A Made-in-Alberta Failure: Unfunded Oil and Gas Closure Liability” School of Public Policy Paper Series, October 2023

PDF Version: Freedom of Information: Brokering Access for Records on Oil and Gas Liability Management at the AER

This blog post is a companion to “A Made-in-Alberta Failure: Unfunded Oil and Gas Closure Liability”, a research paper Martin Olszynski, Shaun Fluker, and I wrote for the School of Public Policy. The paper describes the decades of regulatory failure in Albertan policy on inactive and orphan oil and gas wells and identifies the core deficiencies in the regulatory approach. This post provides a summary of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, RSA 2000, c F-25 (FOIP) access brokering process with the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) for the records obtained for writing that paper. Altogether, more than 1,500 pages of records were obtained through FOIP, although that includes a large number of duplicated pages. The documents cited in the research paper are attached to the paper as an appendix.