Coal Law and Policy in Alberta, Part One: the Coal Policy and Its Legal Status

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))

Continue reading →

The Family Violence Death Review Committee’s Latest Annual Report: Time for a Family Violence Action Plan in Alberta

By: Jennifer Koshan

PDF Version: The Family Violence Death Review Committee’s Latest Annual Report: Time for a Family Violence Action Plan in Alberta

Report Commented On: Family Violence Death Review Committee, 2019/2020 Annual Report

The 2019/2020 Annual Report of Alberta’s Family Violence Death Review Committee (FVDRC) appeared with little fanfare on the government’s website in mid-January 2021. There was no news release, perhaps because the UCP government has been called out for failing to respond to the recommendations in two of the FVDRC’s previous reports from 2019 (see a discussion of those reports here and MLA Janis Irwin’s questions in the Legislative Assembly in December 2020 here (at 3804)). This post will review the major findings from the latest FVDRC Annual Report and situate the work of the FVDRC in developments around a provincial action plan on family violence. Given the evidence that family violence has increased and intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic, including in Alberta, action on the part of the government is critical. Moreover, given that family violence is gendered and disproportionately impacts members of marginalized communities – including during COVID-19 – failure to act has human rights implications for survivors (and non-survivors) of family violence.

Continue reading →

The Sequoia Bankruptcy Part 2: The Appeal of the Motions to Strike and Dismiss

By: Drew Yewchuk

PDF Version: The Sequoia Bankruptcy Part 2: The Appeal of the Motions to Strike and Dismiss

Cases Commented On: PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc v Perpetual Energy Inc, 2020 ABQB 513 (CanLII); PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc v Perpetual Energy Inc, 2021 ABCA 16 (CanLII)

This is part two of a series on the litigation resulting from the bankruptcy of Sequoia. The first part covered the first application to strike, and the applications to intervene in the appeal of that decision at the Court of Appeal.

This part covers two decisions in the Sequoia bankruptcy saga: 2020 ABQB 513 (CanLII), a costs decisions at the Queen’s Bench level, and 2021 ABCA 16 (CanLII), the Court of Appeal decision overturning that costs decision and the decision to strike the majority of the Trustee’s claims.

Continue reading →

Saskatchewan Court of Appeal Confirms that a Registrar’s Caveat Is Not a Magic Wand

By: Nigel Bankes and Jonnette Watson Hamilton

PDF Version: Saskatchewan Court of Appeal Confirms that a Registrar’s Caveat Is Not a Magic Wand

Decision Commented On: Primrose Drilling Ventures v Registrar of Titles, 2021 SKCA 15

This case involves the rights acquired by a party (Primrose Drilling) who took a title that was encumbered by a registrar’s caveat. The caveat was filed to warn purchasers of a potential registrar’s error made back in the chain of title, but it was filed after a purchaser for value had got on the register relying on the flawed title.

The case came before the courts on the basis of a reference from the registrar relying on section 108 of The Land Titles Act, 2000, SS 2000, c L-5.1. The trial judge (Registrar of Titles and Great West Life Assurance Company and Primrose Drilling Ventures Ltd, 2018 SKQB 290 (CanLII)) concluded that Primrose’s title was subject to whatever interest the Registrar was seeking to protect (in this case the interests of GWL, the successor in interest to a party wrongly deprived of the mineral title to the lands in question). We commented on the trial judgment at some length in “Saskatchewan Land Titles Decision Calls Out for Appellate Review.” We took the position that the registrar had no authority to file a caveat once a purchaser for value had got on title on the faith of the register and that Primrose (the last purchaser for value in the chain of purchasers for value) was entitled to a title free of the blemish represented by the registrar’s claim. We refer the reader to that post for a detailed analysis and discussion of relevant authorities from both Saskatchewan and Alberta.

Continue reading →

Reforming Personal Property Security Law

By: Tamara Buckwold and Roderick Wood

PDF Version: Reforming Personal Property Security Law

Report Commented On: Alberta Law Reform Institute, Personal Property Security Law, Report for Discussion 35 (December 2020)

Every Canadian province and territory, except for Quebec, has enacted a Personal Property Security Act. Although there are minor variations across jurisdictions, these statutes are substantially uniform. Alberta’s Personal Property Security Act, RSA 2000, c P-7 (PPSA) originally came into force in October 1990. Its enactment transformed secured transactions law in Alberta by sweeping away many of the restrictions and limitations that impeded the use of secured credit. It replaced the piecemeal approach that formerly governed with a comprehensive and rational system that fostered certainty, transparency and flexibility. The success of the legislation is confirmed by the transplantation of the Canadian model into other jurisdictions such as New Zealand and Australia.

Although the PPSA produced a significant improvement in the law, experience with the legislation over the course of the last three decades has revealed several instances where improvements or clarifications are desirable. In some cases, the need for reform is driven by technological advances. When the PPSA was first enacted, electronic banking and electronic commerce were in their infancy. In other cases, judicial decisions have revealed ambiguities in the legislation that have produced uncertainty. Further, the statute simply did not anticipate the kinds of controversies that would be litigated in the future, and therefore did not provide rules for the resolution of these types of disputes.

Continue reading →