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Summary of Papers and Proceedings from a Workshop on Key Issues in the Design of Carbon Management Policies and Regulations in Alberta, Calgary, January 27th & 28th, 2014

On February 18, 2014

By: Nigel Bankes and Elizabeth Wilman, Workshop Co-Chairs

PDF Version: Summary of Papers and Proceedings from a Workshop on Key Issues in the Design of Carbon Management Policies and Regulations in Alberta, Calgary, January 27th & 28th, 2014

Regulation Commented On: Specified Gas Emitters Regulation, Alta. Reg. 139/2007

Background and Format

Largely because of its role as a global energy supplier, Alberta is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases among the Canadian provinces. In 2007 Alberta passed the Specified Gas Emitters Regulation (SGER), Alta. Reg. 139/2007, which is due for renewal in 2014. The purpose of the workshop, Key Issues in the Design of Carbon Management Policies and Regulations, was to provide input to Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development (AESRD) to assist in updating and revising the Regulation.

And Now Some Good News for a Change: The Energy Safety and Security Act

By Martin Olszynski

On February 14, 2014

In Energy, Environmental, Oil & Gas

By: Martin Olszynski

PDF Version: And Now Some Good News for a Change: The Energy Safety and Security Act

Legislation Commented on: Bill C-22, An Act respecting Canada’s offshore oil and gas operations, enacting the Nuclear Liability and Compensation Act, repealing the Nuclear Liability Act and making consequential amendments to other Acts (Energy Safety and Security Act), Second Session, Forty-first Parliament, 62 Elizabeth II, 2013-2014

At the end of last month, while all eyes were fixed on the U.S. State Department’s release of the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline (discussed by my colleague Professor James Coleman here), the federal government quietly introduced Bill C-22, the Energy Safety and Security Act (ESSA), for first reading in the House of Commons. Bill C-22 has two parts, the first dealing with offshore oil and gas operations, the second with the liability regime applicable to nuclear incidents. This post focuses on the changes to the offshore liability regime and then briefly considers what ESSA tells us about the development of effective environmental laws and policies in Canada.

Accommodation is a Challenging Issue for Employers, Employees and Human Rights Commissions

By Linda McKay-Panos

On February 13, 2014

In Human Rights

By: Linda McKay-Panos

PDF Version: Accommodation is a Challenging Issue for Employers, Employees and Human Rights Commissions

Case commented on: Robinson v Edmonton (City), 2014 ABQB 29

It is perhaps only logical that since physical disability is the most common ground and employment is the most common area for discrimination claims in Alberta, accommodation would be a recurring issue in this context (see Alberta Human Rights Commission, Annual Report 2012-13). Employers (as well as service providers, landlords, etc.) have a duty to accommodate employees who experience discrimination to the point of undue hardship.

The Utilities Commission and the Court are Powerless to Prevent Unjustly Discriminatory Rates; The Fat Lady is Singing – Loudly

By Nigel Bankes

On February 12, 2014

In Energy

By: Nigel Bankes

PDF Version: The Utilities Commission and the Court are Powerless to Prevent Unjustly Discriminatory Rates; The Fat Lady is Singing – Loudly

Case commented on: Williams Energy (Canada) Inc v Alberta Utilities Commission, 2014 ABCA 51

The Court of Appeal has confirmed that the scheme of the Gas Utilities Act, RSA 2000, c. G-5 (GUA) reserves to the Lieutenant Governor in Council the exclusive authority to determine which gas utilities will be subject to regulation by the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC). Thus, while the AUC may make declaratory findings that an entity is a gas utility and that the utility is charging unjustly discriminatory rates, such declaratory findings are empty remedies for the customers of that utility unless and until the Lieutenant Governor in Council can be persuaded to make an Order in Council (OC) bringing that utility under full rate regulation.

The More Things Change…. A Post-McKercher Conflicts Case

By Alice Woolley

On February 11, 2014

In Ethics and the Legal Profession

By: Alice Woolley

PDF Version: The More Things Change…. A Post-McKercher Conflicts Case

Case Commented on: MTM Commercial Trust v Statesman Riverside Quays Ltd. 2014 ABQB 16

In his decision in MTM Commercial Trust v Statesman Riverside Quays Ltd. Justice Macleod determined whether Bennett Jones LLP could act for Matco Group, a client of many years, in a dispute with the Statesman Group, for whom Bennett Jones acted on a very limited retainer, and who had been advised that Bennett Jones would act for Matco in the event of a future dispute between the two clients. Somewhat surprisingly, Justice Macleod held that Bennett Jones could not represent Matco. In this comment I will suggest that this judgment supports the position I set out in an ABlawg post in 2011, that “in actual cases judges are less concerned with carefully articulating the applicable rules, and more concerned with reaching the right outcome on the facts, all things considered” (The Practice (not theory) of Conflicts of Interest; see also Conflicts of Interest and Good Judgment).

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