Category: Natural Resources Page 2 of 17

Duty to Consult, Honour of the Crown, Project Assessment, and Land-Use Planning in a Modern Treaty Context: More Clarity from the Supreme Court of the Yukon

On May 25, 2023

In Aboriginal, Energy, Indigenous, Natural Resources

By: David Wright

Matter Commented On: First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun v Yukon (Government of), 2023 YKSC 5 (CanLII) (Metallic Minerals)

PDF Version: Duty to Consult, Honour of the Crown, Project Assessment, and Land-Use Planning in a Modern Treaty Context: More Clarity from the Supreme Court of the Yukon

The duty to consult and accommodate is now a mature area of jurisprudence, including case law that is “replete with indicia” (Coldwater First Nation v Canada (Attorney General), 2020 FCA 34 (CanLII) at para 41) of what constitutes meaningful consultation. One area that continues to evolve, however, is Crown consultation obligations and the honour of the Crown in modern treaty contexts. The landmark Supreme Court of Canada cases of Beckman v Little Salmon/Carmacks First Nation (2010 SCC 53 (CanLII)) and First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun v Yukon (2017 SCC 58 (CanLII)), both originating from lower courts in the Yukon, set out the contours of this legal landscape, but some uncertainty remains. In First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun v Yukon (Government of), 2023 YKSC 5 (CanLII) (Metallic Minerals), the Supreme Court of Yukon (YKSC) provides helpful judicial interpretation and observations in this area. In particular, Chief Justice Suzanne M. Duncan clarifies the law with respect to the Honour of the Crown and the duty to consult and accommodate in context of project-level assessment and land-use planning in the Yukon. This short post provides an overview of the case, as well as brief commentary regarding key points.

Worrying About Reclamation and Abandonment Obligations in the Context of Property Assignment Consents

By Nigel Bankes

On February 22, 2023

In Energy, Natural Resources, Provincial Court, Uncategorized

By: Nigel Bankes and Drew Yewchuk

Case commented on: Canadian Natural Resources Limited v Harvest Operations Corp, 2023 ABKB 62 (CanLII)

PDF Version: Worrying About Reclamation and Abandonment Obligations in the Context of Property Assignment Consents

This decision is principally about when a court can or should grant partial summary judgment. For that reason alone, we anticipate that it will be appealed. But the underlying concern that led to this litigation was (and still is) the decision of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNRL) to contest assignments pursuant to a purchase and sale agreement (PSA) between Harvest Operations as the vendor and Spoke Resources as the purchaser. CNRL and Harvest were parties to some 170 agreements affected by the PSA, including 133 land agreements, 30 facility agreements, and 7 service agreements.

The AER Quietly Implemented a Two-Tier Mandatory Closure Spend Target

By Drew Yewchuk

On November 8, 2022

In Natural Resources, Oil & Gas

By: Drew Yewchuk

Regulatory Change Commented On: The AER’s Inventory Reduction Program

PDF Version: The AER Quietly Implemented a Two-Tier Mandatory Closure Spend Target

Starting in mid-2021, the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) adopted a new liability management framework to address the problems of inactive conventional oil and gas assets. The new liability management framework includes mandatory closure spend targets, a requirement for companies to spend a certain amount on closure work each year. The mandatory closure spend targets deal with the liabilities of inactive assets and not orphan assets (it is not to be confused with the orphan fund levy, used to fund the Orphan Well Association that abandons and remediates wells with owners that went bankrupt).

The Milk and St. Mary Apportionment: A Next Step?

By Nigel Bankes

On August 24, 2022

In Natural Resources, Water Law

By: Nigel Bankes

Matter commented on: International St Mary-Milk Rivers Study Board, Work Plan for the International St Mary-Milk Rivers Study, June 2022, released July 28, 2022

PDF Version: The Milk and St. Mary Apportionment: A Next Step?

This post examines the most recent development in efforts to improve the ability of both Canada and the United States to access its water entitlement to each of the Milk and St. Mary Rivers under the terms of an apportionment order made by the International Joint Commission (IJC) under the Boundary Waters Treaty more than a century ago.

The Rhetoric of Property and Immunity in the Majority Opinion in the Impact Assessment Reference

By Nigel Bankes

On June 8, 2022

In Constitutional, Energy, Natural Resources, Property

By: Nigel Bankes & Andrew Leach

Opinion Commented On: Reference re Impact Assessment Act, 2022 ABCA 165 (CanLII).

PDF Version: The Rhetoric of Property and Immunity in the Majority Opinion in the Impact Assessment Reference

The Alberta Court of Appeal recently released its opinion in Reference re Impact Assessment Act, 2022 ABCA 165 (CanLII). A majority of the Court found the Impact Assessment Act, SC 2019, c. 28, s 1 [IAA] to be unconstitutional. Our colleague Martin Olszynski has already summarized the majority’s approach and some of the doctrinal difficulties therein.

In this post, we consider in more detail the majority’s lengthy discussion of the historical evolution of the resource rights of the prairie provinces from the creation of Alberta and Saskatchewan as provinces in 1905, through to the Natural Resources Transfer Agreements (NRTAs) of 1930, culminating with the adoption of s 92A (the Resources Amendment) in 1982.