By Dean Bennett | Nov 20, 2012 6:25 pm | 0 Comments

EDMONTON – Legislation tabled in the Alberta legislature would give the chief electoral officer power to publicly divulge the names of those who give and those who get illegal political donations.

The Election Accountability Amendment Act would also allow the elections officer to divulge specifics of an offence and detail the penalty imposed.

“The bill goes a long way towards ensuring that Alberta’s electoral system remains both accountable and responsive,” Justice Minister Jonathan Denis said Tuesday.

It addresses a core disagreement between current officer, Brian Fjeldheim, and Premier Alison Redford’s government over the interpretation of the disclosure law as it now stands.

Legislation Monitor Follow the bills

 The Tories said Fjeldheim already had the power to name names, but he said he didn’t.

Denis said that has now been fixed.

“This (bill) reflects the true intent of the (original) legislation,” he said.

The act is intended to clear up other concerns over public disclosure.

The Tories have been dogged in the past year by cases of improper donations to their party from government-funded municipalities, schools, colleges and universities.

The criticisms struck close to home for the premier Monday when it was revealed her sister, Lynn Redford, was reimbursed more than $3,000 by taxpayers to attend and hold PC party events while she worked for the Calgary Health Region.

Overall, Fjeldheim has opened up more than 81 files in the last year. Three weeks ago, he began investigating allegations that billionaire Daryl Katz contributed $430,000 to the Tory campaign in the spring election — well over the $30,000 individual maximum.

PC Party officials have not commented on the specifics of the Katz donations, but say there is no evidence that anyone contributed more than the maximum.

Fjeldheim must release his findings to Katz and to the Tories. Redford has said she will make the findings publicly available.

The new law would also allow Fjeldheim the one-time opportunity to publicly report on findings dating back three years.

NDP Leader Brian Mason and Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith said that doesn’t go far enough, especially given that Lynn Redford’s PC donations began in 2005 and ended in 2008.

“What we were looking for in this legislation was a clear intent to allow the chief electoral officer to go back and investigate all the incidents of illegal donations,” said Smith.

“This looks to me like they’re limiting it to cover up.”

Mason said: “It was designed to protect the Progressive Conservative Party’s position, and to protect the premier and others who have not, in our view, allowed the truth to come out with respect to illegal donations.”

Other noteworthy aspects of the legislation include:

— Fines for breaches would increase from a maximum $1,000 to a maximum $10,000.

— The act would not apply just to general elections, but also to party leadership contests.

— The maximum individual contribution remains at $30,000.

— There is no overall limit to party fundraising and spending.

— Anyone donating less than $250 to a party would not have his or her name made public; that’s down from $375.

— Donor information would be made public quarterly on the Elections Alberta website rather than once a year, as is the case now.

Alberta Liberal critic Laurie Blakeman said the $30,000 limit for unions and corporations is still too high.

“It’s same old, same old,” said Blakeman.

“People don’t want to see a government that is going to allow legislation that allows people to buy an election or to buy legislation that suits them.”

The act also incorporates previously announced changes to municipal voting rules. Post-secondary students who have left home to study would be able to vote at home or in the district where their school is located.

As outlined previously by Municipal Affairs Minister Doug Griffiths, local politicians are to serve for four years rather than three, starting with elections in 2013.

The proposed law would require voters to produce identification for municipal contests. It also mandates that if an incumbent candidate decides not to run again, any surplus campaign funds in his or her account are given to the municipality or to charity.

November 18, 2012 – 4:15am By ALY THOMPSON The Canadian Press

Alberta Premier Alison Redford said Saturday that Canada is facing new energy opportunities, citing the importance of exploring new markets in the United States and Asia.

Redford told the Halifax International Security Forum that her province’s oilsands need to access new markets, pointing to the Keystone XL pipeline to Texas and the Northern Gateway Pipeline to British Columbia as potential opportunities.

She said that would allow countries to divert their dollars from potentially volatile countries.

Although B.C. Premier Christy Clark has expressed environmental concerns about the pipeline and is demanding a bigger share of the revenues for her province, Redford said a nearing provincial election could change the mood towards the project.

“What we’re starting to see is a willingness to talk about what arrangements might be able to be put in place to allow for access to Asia,” said Redford during a discussion about international energy security. “We know that we need to have access to Asia, and there are some very good pipelines structures already in British Columbia that allow for some of that access.

“Things like this lead to economic growth, so one of the questions that I think is starting to be asked in British Columbia (is), ‘Do we want this economic growth, and how are we going to balance that?’”

Redford also cited ongoing talks about moving resources from Western to Eastern Canada. She even went so far as to suggest eventually exporting those resources off the East Coast.

“My understanding is that at a commercial level, there’s been very good discussions going on and that there’s even been some work done with respect to test samples, so we’ll see just how quickly this could get ramped up,” said Redford.

“We have the ability to work with pipeline infrastructure that is already in place just about across most of the country and I think it is important to talk about the economic benefits.”

U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, who was also a part of Saturday’s panel, told the conference that his office recently sent a letter to President Barack Obama to urge action over TransCanada’s Keystone XL Pipeline.

Obama rejected TransCanada’s application 10 months ago, citing concerns about the risks posed to an environmentally sensitive area in Nebraska by the pipeline’s original route.

But the president invited Trans-Canada to submit another application after rerouting the pipeline around Nebraska’s Sandhills, necessitating another State Department environmental review of the US$7-billion project.

By Sarah O’Donnell, Edmonton Journal November 15, 2012

EDMONTON – Describing whistleblower protection laws crafted by the Alberta government as terribly flawed, Wildrose MLAs said they will propose 21 amendments to the legislation.

Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith said Thursday her party will not support Bill 4, the Public Interest Disclosure (Whistleblower Protection) Act, as it is. Based on their party’s analysis, and comments from other experts, Smith said she does not have confidence the proposal will truly protect public servants who report serious wrongdoing within government.

Premier Alison Redford said she believes it is essential to have legislation in place to protect government workers who report corruption or mismanagement.

The proposed act, which has been given two of the three readings in the legislature that it needs to be approved, will apply to provincial agencies, boards and commissions, academic institutions, school boards and health organizations such as Alberta Health Services, as well as government departments.

It sets up both an internal process within each government department or agency to report wrongdoing, and an overarching public interest disclosure commissioner.

Redford defended the bill against critics last week, saying she believes the legislations is drafted in a way that is flexible enough to allow the commissioner to protect whistleblowers under a range of circumstances, not just those who go through the prescribed process.

Smith said she thinks those protections should be explicitly outlined.

“There’s a mismatch between what (the premier) says she wants the bill to do and some of the provisions that are in the act and what it actually does,” she said.

The Wildrose proposes a range of changes to the bill, such as altering it so that whistleblower protection extends to all provincially licensed health and seniors facilities, and the Crown prosecutors office. The party also wants the legislation to be retroactive to Jan. 1, 2003.

Liberal and NDP MLAs also have raised concerns about the bill and whether it does enough to protect whistleblowers.

Don Scott, associate minister of Accountability, Transparency and Transformation, said in an email Thursday he just received the amendments to review and is looking forward to the debate next week.

He did not offer any comment on the changes suggested by the Wildrose.

[email protected]

Twitter.com/scodonnell

© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal

JOSH WINGROVE

EDMONTON — The Globe and Mail

Published Thursday, Nov. 15 2012, 8:41 PM EST

Last updated Thursday, Nov. 15 2012, 8:54 PM EST

Alberta Premier Alison Redford is backing away from her pledge to balance the books, saying she won’t delay spending as revenues sink because of lower-than-expected oil prices.

Instead, Ms. Redford and her ministers have this fall begun using a different term: “operational balance.” They say provincial revenues will cover everything – except billions in infrastructure spending, which the province will pay for by taking on debt. Fast-growing Alberta can’t afford to not build schools and roads, Ms. Redford said.

“For us, it’s about reality. The reality is the economic downturn has gone in a way that no one expected it to,” the Premier said Thursday, after a speech in which she said Alberta’s worst deficit would be one of infrastructure. By repaying infrastructure debt over time, she said, “we will pay less in the long run, socially and financially.”

Alberta’s outlook comes after the federal government this week projected larger deficits and pushed back its target date for a balanced budget, with both governments blaming lower energy prices.

Debt-free Alberta is running its fifth consecutive deficit budget, despite low unemployment and a relatively strong price for oil, which closed at $85.31 Thursday. Until now, deficits have been covered by the province’s rainy day Sustainability Fund, and Alberta expected a surplus by next year. Using debt to pay for infrastructure marks a change of tune in a province where former premier Ralph Klein held back on spending to balance the books – a legacy Ms. Redford suggested she’s cleaning up after.

“We had an awful lot of catching up to do. And we’re not going to fall behind again,” she said.

Experts say any budget must include infrastructure to be considered balanced. “The province needs to be honest to Albertans and businesses about that,” said Ben Brunnen, chief economist with the Calgary Chamber of Commerce. Borrowing for individual capital projects, like a school, is actually sound policy, Mr. Brunnen said, but deficits aren’t. The province needs a new fiscal framework that limits spending growth, forecasts infrastructure spending and saves surpluses, he said.

Mr. Klein’s legacy poses problems for Ms. Redford’s plan, said Duane Bratt, chair of the department of policy studies at Calgary’s Mount Royal University. “In any other jurisdiction, this is not news. But Alberta is different, and Alberta is different because of Ralph Klein. He made this a mantra,” he said.

Opposition Leader Danielle Smith said the government is mismanaging its money. “Ralph Klein was able to balance the budget when oil was $30,” the Wildrose Leader said. “If there is one jurisdiction on the planet that should be able to balance its books, it should be Alberta.”

EDMONTON – Alberta Premier Alison Redford admitted Thursday that while her party didn’t campaign in the April election on running up debt, the economy has worsened since then and now they must adapt.

“It (borrowing money) is not something that we talked about during the campaign because that wasn’t the fiscal reality during the campaign,” Redford told reporters.

But she pointed to Tuesday’s announcement by federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty that a weak global economy means the federal deficit will hit $26 billion this year, $5 billion more than predicted.

“The economic downturn has gone in a way that no one expected it to, the federal government has said that,” said Redford.

“What we will do is manage our government and manage our budget in tune with the times.

“We always said we would build infrastructure for the future.”

Her comments follow a weekend announcement by Finance Minister Doug Horner that the province will now begin taking out loans to pay for infrastructure while keeping the $40-billion day-to-day operating budget balanced.

Earlier Thursday, in a speech to rural and county politicians, Redford expounded on that theme.

“We will ensure that we put in place the right progress that we need to make on infrastructure so that the schools, the hospitals, clinics, water systems and roads are in place in your communities.

“There are lots of different ways to talk about deficit, but the one thing we can’t have is an infrastructure deficit.”

She said the time is right.

“Our Triple-A credit rating allows us low borrowing costs, and if we pay for capital over time, just like we do in our lives, and not put off projects, we will pay less in the long run — socially and financially.”

Opposition Wildrose leader Danielle Smith accused Redford of manipulating Albertans in a cynical political shell game by delivering a set of rosy oil price and corporate growth projections in February’s pre-election budget knowing they wouldn’t be met.

The budget predicted an $886-million deficit but a return to surplus budgets in 2013-14.

But after the election, in August, Horner announced a revised budget deficit forecast to be as high as $3 billion.

“This is fairly typical of a premier who talks out of both sides of her mouth,” said Smith.

“They didn’t want to go to the public and face the electorate saying, ‘Hey vote for us and we’ll go back into debt again.’

“So now they feel safely into another majority mandate, they don’t really care what their promises are. This is sort of a pattern for this premier. She’ll say anything to get elected.”

Smith noted when Horner announced the $3-billion deficit in August he stressed the budget numbers vary widely as oil prices fluctuate, and stressed they weren’t going to radically alter course based on one set of bad numbers.

However Redford told reporters Thursday the bad first-quarter was one of the reasons for the policy shift.

“I think that you’ve clearly seen through our first-quarter update and what’s going on in the world that the world has changed,” said Redford.

Smith said regardless of the rhetoric, a province of under four million people with resource revenues at $10 billion a year should not be going hat in hand to the capital markets.

“The world has not changed so much (in the past six months) that we need to go into debt. We have a government that needs to get its spending under control,” said Smith.

Debt freedom has been a point of pride for the Tories since they retired the $23-billion debt under former premier Ralph Klein.

The issue has become the clear ideological dividing line between the Tories and the Wildrose, both of which are right-centre parties.

The verbal sparring has been bitter.

Tory cabinet minister Doug Griffiths labelled the 17 Wildrose MLAs “hypocrites” on Tuesday for pushing lower spending overall but higher spending on pet projects in their constituencies.

Without calling out the Wildrose by name, Redford made the same point in her speech.

“It’s pretty easy to travel around the province and say, ‘You know, when that budget is balanced, we’ll invest in infrastructure,’ and (say) ‘You know what, we need a school here,’ when you’re in one part of the province and then you go to another part of the province and say something different,” said Redford.

“Responsible provincial governments don’t have the luxury of being able to do that.”

Smith said her party does have a plan, one that doesn’t involve taking on debt.

She said the Wildrose would install a $4-billion base of funding every year for infrastructure, which is comparable on a per capita basis to big provinces like Ontario and B.C.

Hikes to that $4 billion would be tied to inflation, she said.

Add to that she said, there would be increased funding for municipalities for infrastructure needs equal to 10 per cent of overall provincial revenues, starting at $1.6 billion this year.

“Over a 10-year period, our balanced budget plan calls for $75 billion in infrastructure spending,” said Smith.

“So for a premier to say that somehow $75 billion in new infrastructure funding on a pay-as-you-go basis is not going to be enough to meet the needs of our growing economy, I have to scratch my head and say ‘What would be enough?'”

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George now faces the new proposed AltaGas pipeline, but this time around he wants things to be done differently. He says the pipeline is an “inconvenience, a financial loss and an economic burden” and is calling for landowners along the proposed pipeline route to come together and organize in a bid to see a fairer contract drawn up with AltaGas. To see his call to landowners, click here.

George has contacted AltaGas with questions he believes are pertinent to drawing up a fair deal between the company and landowners. To see his letter, click here.

 To view PipelineObserver.ca in a new window, click here.

Ltr to Political Parties re Bill 2 Impacts on Landowners_Nov 4-2012

Wilson Briefing Re: Bill 2

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Airdrie City News-Proposed legislation could give control of transmission lines back to AUC Nov 09, 2012

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Calgary Herald-Landowners, Lawyer predict Bill 2 will get a rocky reception in AB Nov 15, 2012

Calgary Herald-Premier Redford says critics of energy regulation bill are fear mongering Nov 16

Responsible Energy Development Act described by one group as ‘worst proposed legislation ever introduced in this province’

EDMONTON — Energy Minister Ken Hughes is embarking on a speaking tour to sell Alberta farmers and ranchers on the Tory government’s controversial one-stop shopping energy resource development bill — but landowners and lawyers say he could get a rough ride in some parts of the province.

Hughes told the Herald that over the next few weeks he wants to engage with Albertans about the benefits of Bill 2, the Responsible Energy Development Act.

“It is critical from an economic perspective to get Bill 2 through, that we create a new single regulator, because that governs most of the $300-billion economic engine that is Alberta,” he said.

Anticipating concerns from the public, he has introduced 15 amendments to the bill, which passed second reading in the Alberta legislature last week.

“What that demonstrates is that we’re a government that listens to landowner concerns,” he said. “I want to make sure personally that this is something that landowners can be comfortable with and that ensures also that we have an efficient and effective regulatory process for applicants.”

Hughes may be acting on the advice of his predecessor Ted Morton, who complained that the Conservatives faced a storm of undeserved criticism over several controversial land bills last year because they failed to explain the legislation to landowners.

“There was no timely response to bogus and misleading interpretations that were being given,” said Morton, just before he lost his seat to a Wildrose rookie in Chestermere-Rocky View last April.

Morton said the bills were also too technically written and not “user-friendly.”

Critics say the new bill — which Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith has dubbed Franken-bill — is even more complex and confusing.

Bill 2 has been described by one landowners’ group as “the worst proposed legislation ever introduced in this province” and members have expressed fears the new law could spark violence in the oilpatch.

Don Bester of the 1,400-member Alberta Surface Rights Group slammed the bill over its lack of an outside appeal mechanism.

Bill 2 also eliminates references from prior legislation that would require the energy development regulator to act in the public interest and gives it “extreme dictatorial powers,” he said.

Bester called the amendments tabled by Hughes “wordsmithing.”

“Those words that he changed were minuscule,” he said. “It was just a public relations appeasement to the other political parties.”

Bester urged farmers as well as urban dwellers to oppose the bill or lose any chance to stop energy development in their backyards.

He said it was disappointing for members of his organization that their input was ignored and none of the most controversial aspects of the bill were raised during the so-called stakeholder consultation.

He said a coalition of landowners groups is meeting later this week to plan their response to the bill. But he said he is concerned some landowners will take matters into their own hands if confronted by unwanted energy development.

Hughes has argued the bill gives landowners even greater rights to notification of developments than some of the existing acts it replaces, but land rights lawyers say it strips key existing landowner rights from the six conservation bills.

University of Calgary assistant law professor Shaun Fluker said the retraction of landowner rights in Bill 2 is “a colossal gaffe by the Alberta government” and a “substantial gift to political opponents of the governing Tories.”

“I think it is a colossal gaffe because the government doesn’t need to be stoking any fires by stripping away these rights,” he said. “It just seems to me they are going to anger a bunch of people that they really didn’t need to. If you are the leader of the Wildrose, you must be licking your chops on this.”

Fluker said it really doesn’t help the landowner to be given notice of an energy development on their land because nothing appears to propel a public hearing until after the licence has been issued.

“It will only happen after the shovels hit the ground,” he said.

Fluker said there is nothing in the bill to ensure there is funding available to help landowners fight the project and it is unlikely the regulator will reverse decisions it has made when it hears its own appeals.

The bill eliminates appeals to the Environment Appeal Board and provides only narrow avenues of recourse to the court.

[email protected]

© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

Alberta Government News Release – Alberta Utilities Commission
November 15, 2012

Calgary… Alberta’s independent utilities regulator has approved the Eastern Alberta Transmission Line (EATL). Landowner-generated and environmentally favourable alternative route selections affecting more than a third of the line’s length were developed, refined or introduced during the AUC proceeding, which included 13 days of public hearings in Stettler, Forestburg and Camrose in July and August 2012.

In Decision 2012-303, released today, the Alberta Utilities Commission found the application from ATCO Electric Ltd. to build the EATL project was in the public interest and met the need specified in law by the provincial government. The capital cost of the project was estimated by ATCO Electric at $1.6 billion. The EATL project, a proposed 500-kilovolt direct-current transmission line with associated converter stations and facilities, would extend approximately 500 km from the Gibbons area northeast of Edmonton to near Brooks. The need for the line was specified by the Alberta government as critical transmission infrastructure in 2009 in the Electric Statutes Amendment Act.

The AUC has approved portions of the route preferred by the applicant, and in several cases, portions of the route that the applicant submitted as alternative routing. In some cases those alternatives were developed from landowner suggestions. Overall, based on land-use, social, cost and environmental considerations, the route selected by the AUC was found to be both in the public interest and superior to other potential routes.

In its decision, the AUC lauded the positive contributions made by intervening landowners and landowner groups. “The Commission commends those parties who decided to participate in the process as the information that was presented at the hearing and through the submissions was valuable in informing the Commission about the impacts of the EATL project on individual landowners, groups of landowners, interested stakeholders and the environment,” the AUC said. “Furthermore, the Commission appreciates the participation of landowner groups at the formal hearing which generated a series of additional relevant and specific commitments by ATCO Electric. Had these intervener groups chosen not to participate, then the issues that generated the commitments may not have been raised.”

Approximately 175 km of the 500-km route that was approved aligns with landowner-generated alternatives or environmentally favourable route identification that took place during the proceeding. These portions include:

• The 35-km Royal Park alternative (known as the blue route). This was a landowner-originated alignment that has been approved.
• A 15-km amended route segment in the Forestburg area generated through consultation and ultimately designated as preferred by ATCO Electric and approved by the Commission as the preferred route segment.
• Through the 100-km Andrew-Mundare-Holden segment (which includes the Royal Park alternative), environmental concerns were acknowledged and maximum separation was achieved through the choice of alternate routing. This maximized the distance from nationally- and internationally-designated important bird areas at Whitford Lake and Beaverhill Lake, the latter a Ramsar Convention on internationally important wetlands-designated site.
• The 60-km South Holden-Forestburg segment. This alternative was chosen in part because landowners who had land on both the preferred and alternate routes favoured the alternate segment to ATCO Electric’s preferred segment.

Today’s decision marks the completion of an AUC review process that formally began in 2011, included many thousands of pages of documents, hundreds of exhibits and more than 75 witnesses. In recognition of the scope, nature and timeframe of the application, the AUC applied an enhanced process that included broad notification and provision of information, automatic standing for most parties, and multiple options for participation including community hearing sessions. The result was an open and transparent review that maximized the amount of preparation time for all participants. The application was originally received on March 29, 2011.

Today’s decision along with extensive additional information related to the EATL project application, and the AUC’s hearing process, can be found on the AUC’s website, at www.auc.ab.ca.

The Alberta Utilities Commission is an independent, quasi-judicial agency of the province of Alberta. As part of its mandate the Commission has jurisdiction over the siting of facilities deemed to be critical transmission facilities, as well as other transmission facilities, electric power plants and natural gas transmission pipelines. The AUC regulates the utilities sector, natural gas and electricity markets to protect the social, economic and environmental interests of Alberta where competitive market forces do not.

-30-

Media inquiries may be directed to:
Jim Law
Director, External Relations, Alberta Utilities Commission
Phone: 403-512-3417
Email: [email protected]

Geoff Scotton
Senior Communications Advisor, Alberta Utilities Commission
Phone: 403-650-5774
Email: [email protected]

Background

The Eastern Alberta Transmission Line (EATL) is one of six facilities incorporated in four projects deemed to be critical transmission infrastructure by the government of Alberta in the Electric Statutes Amendment Act, 2009.

Key features
Project proponent: ATCO Electric Ltd.
Project cost: $1.6 billion.
Length: Approximately 500 km.

Technology:

• Two 500-kilovolt alternating current/direct current converter stations; one in the Redwater-Gibbons area northeast of Edmonton (Heathfield 2029S), another in the Brooks area (Newell 2075S).
• A 500-kilovolt direct-current transmission line connecting the Redwater-Gibbons-area converter station to the Brooks-area converter station.
• Associated facilities. (500-kV alternating-current transmission lines, 240-kV alternating current transmission lines, optical repeater sites, fibre optic cables, etc.)

Need: Determined by the government of Alberta in the Electric Statutes Amendment Act. 2009. Confirmed in Report of the Critical Transmission Review Committee.
Application received: March 29, 2011.
Decision rendered: November 15, 2012

AUC proceeding facts:
Number of pages in evidence: Close to 20,000.
Exhibits: More than 820.
Witnesses: More than 75.

AUC information sessions held: Five. Vegreville, Lamont, Forestburg, Brooks, Hanna. (March 8 to 16, 2011.)
AUC process meeting days held: Two. Hanna (May7, 2011) and Tofield (May 20, 2011).
AUC public hearing days: 13 (Stettler, Alberta)
AUC community hearing sessions: Three. Forestburg (July 24, 2012) and two in Camrose (July 25, 2012).
AUC process: In recognition of the scale and magnitude of the proposed EATL project, the Alberta Utilities Commission employed an enhanced process to provide early opportunities for participation in the Commission’s preparations for and consideration of the application. This enhanced process included flexible options for interested parties to participate formally or informally, deemed early standing for landowner interveners (with consequent early access to intervener funding), early process meetings to identify key issues and  community hearing sessions.

 Chronology
November 15, 2012. AUC issues Decision 2012-303, approving the EATL project. In total, the decision is more than 380 pages.
August 20, 2012. Record of proceeding closes.
August 10, 2012. Public hearing concludes.
July 25, 2012. Community hearing session held in Camrose.
July 24, 2012. Community hearing session held in Forestburg.
July 23, 2012. Public hearing begins in Stettler, Alberta.
May 1 and 3, 2012. ATCO Electric files amendments to application adjusting and amending preferred route.
February 24, 2012. AUC issues letter to all participants notifying it is resuming consideration of application.
February 23, 2012. Government of Alberta requests the AUC resume its examination of EATL application.
February 13, 2012. Report of the Critical Transmission Review Committee is released, confirming need for reinforcement of north-south transmission as soon as possible, reasonableness of two north-south lines and improved efficacy of direct-current lines.
October 21, 2011. The AUC suspends its consideration of the EATL application at the government’s request. The government launches an independent review committee to examine the need for EATL and the Western Alberta Transmission Line, use of direct-current technology and related matters.
September 2011. ATCO Electric amends its application twice, and files related application for fibre-optic cable ajnd back-up generators at the converter stations.
May 31, 2011 EATL process decision is issued in AUC Decision 2011-237
May 20, 2011. Process meeting is held in Tofield, Alberta.
May 7, 2011. Process meeting is held in Hanna, Alberta.
April 11, 2011. AUC issues notice of application of the EATL application with proposed dates and locations and proposed proceeding schedule.
March 26 to 29, 2011. ATCO Electric Ltd. filed Eastern Alberta Transmission Line project application with the AUC. The application is more than 1,000 pages.
March 8 to 16, 2011. AUC public information sessions held in Vegreville, Lamont, Forestburg, Brooks and Hanna.
February 10, 2011. In anticipation of the application, AUC launches enhanced public process for the EATL project application with information sessions scheduled in March for Vegreville, Lamont, Forestburg, Brooks and Hanna.
January 31, 2011. ATCO Electric announces its preferred and alternate routes for the EATL project.

Map

A stylized map of the approved route has been produced to show the basic details of the landowner-generated and AUC-approved route segments. Exact details of the routing approved by the AUC may be found in the decision itself.

By James Wood, Calgary Herald November 15, 2012 3:03 PM

CALGARY — Premier Alison Redford said Thursday she’s hoping for an open conversation with Quebec after that province’s environment minister threatened roadblocks to Alberta oil.

Daniel Breton said this week there are environmental risks to projects proposed around existing infrastructure that are intended to bring western Canadian oil, including bitumen, to Montreal refineries.

The Parti Quebecois cabinet minister said Quebec would have final say over the pipeline plans by Enbridge Inc. and TransCanada Corp no matter the position of the National Energy Board.

Redford — who has made interprovincial cooperation in a Canadian energy strategy a cornerstone policy of her Tory government — said Alberta energy provides a significant economic spinoff across the country, including Quebec.

“The first thing to do is be able to have dialogue with respect to what the economic benefits are,” she told reporters in Edmonton.

“One of the issues that as I understand it was important in the Quebec election was economic growth … we’ll continue to dialogue and make sure that we’re supporting wherever we can the information that might help people to make those decisions.”

Redford said she has spoken briefly to Quebec Premier Pauline Marois since she took office in September. The two are planning to meet in about a week-and-a-half, said Redford.

Enbridge is planning a significant expansion of its pipelines that carry crude from the oilsands and the Bakken shale oilfield to refineries in Central Canada and the U.S. Midwest. The plan, called Eastern Access, involves reversing and maybe expanding a 240,000 barrel-per-day pipeline now carrying imported oil from Montreal to Sarnia, Ont.

TransCanada’s plan is centred on converting parts of its underused Canadian Mainline system from natural gas to oil transportation. It could see up to a million barrels of oil a day shipped to eastern markets starting around 2017.

If Quebec digs in its heels over the projects, it would be the second province to fight a pipeline for the oilsands. British Columbia Premier Christy Clark has laid out five conditions for approval of Enbridge’s proposed Northern Gateway pipeline, including a “fair share” of the economic benefit of the projects.

Redford has flatly refused to share any energy royalties Alberta would derive from Northern Gateway.

[email protected]

© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald