By: Nigel Bankes
PDF Version: Coal Law and Policy in Alberta, Part One: the Coal Policy and Its Legal Status
Issue Commented On: Revocation of the Coal Development Policy for Alberta (1976); Department of Energy, Information Letter 2020-23 “Rescission of A Coal Development Policy for Alberta and new leasing rules for Crown coal leases” (15 May 2020)
I don’t need to tell anybody living in Alberta that there has been a lot of talk recently about coal. Most of that talk has been directed at the Government of Alberta’s decision, to revoke a policy adopted in 1976 known as the Coal Development Policy for Alberta (CDP or Policy).
Once it became widely known, the decision to revoke the policy attracted the attention of civil society and of the media. Interest in the decision is growing and many local governments including Lethbridge, High River, Nanton, Longview, Canmore, Edson, Okotoks, Airdrie and Turner Valley have weighed in on the issue. So too have the Kainai-Blood Tribe and the Siksika First Nation. A significant number of these governments have adopted resolutions either questioning the decision to revoke the coal policy or simply demanding that the Government of Alberta reinstate the policy. Much of the commentary focuses on the environmental and health costs associated with coal mining as well as the conflict between coal mining and other visions for the future of the eastern slopes of the Rockies (e.g. Sharon J Riley, “An Alberta County drafted big tourism plans. Then came the coal leases”, The Narwhal (6 February 2021))