In the fall sitting of the Alberta Legislature, the government will introduce and pass the "Competitive Regulatory Act for Oil and Gas", Energy Minister Ken Hughes announced on Friday.
What does this mean? The premise is the present system is too onerous on the O & G industry, and the solution is to basically scrap the Environent and Sustainable Resources Departments and let Alberta Energy be a "one stop shop" for all regulatory approval. Leases, pipeline right of ways, oilsands, Carbon Capture Scams, power plants and transmission lines, nuclear plants!
Fair enough...the bureaucratic nightmare of getting approval for a project was something else, and it probably needed some improvements....this goes way beyond that!
However, the proof will be in the pudding! I participated in the workshops when they were trying to sell this thing.....and it was very much a "democratic input with a predetermined result"! In other words the government had an outcome they had predetermined......and all us dummies participating were led by the nose down the garden path! Now without a doubt some of us strayed right off the path....but we were ignored or labelled as hopelessly backward mavericks and dinosaurs, who didn't understand the value of "consensus"!
Okay.....so I'm a troublemaker.....but what does this mean for the average guy?
I suspect: Give up the idea that you have the right to challenge things like compensation or environmental concerns at a hearing or in court. Give up the idea that compensation should be a fair and negotiated settlement. Give up the idea that you have any kind of right to safe water, land and air. Give up the idea that you have any rights!
You will become a non-entity in the developement....a slight speed bump (very slight) on the road to corporate profits!
Coming to you this fall from the greatest "free market" in the world, Alberta!
What does this mean? The premise is the present system is too onerous on the O & G industry, and the solution is to basically scrap the Environent and Sustainable Resources Departments and let Alberta Energy be a "one stop shop" for all regulatory approval. Leases, pipeline right of ways, oilsands, Carbon Capture Scams, power plants and transmission lines, nuclear plants!
Fair enough...the bureaucratic nightmare of getting approval for a project was something else, and it probably needed some improvements....this goes way beyond that!
However, the proof will be in the pudding! I participated in the workshops when they were trying to sell this thing.....and it was very much a "democratic input with a predetermined result"! In other words the government had an outcome they had predetermined......and all us dummies participating were led by the nose down the garden path! Now without a doubt some of us strayed right off the path....but we were ignored or labelled as hopelessly backward mavericks and dinosaurs, who didn't understand the value of "consensus"!
Okay.....so I'm a troublemaker.....but what does this mean for the average guy?
I suspect: Give up the idea that you have the right to challenge things like compensation or environmental concerns at a hearing or in court. Give up the idea that compensation should be a fair and negotiated settlement. Give up the idea that you have any kind of right to safe water, land and air. Give up the idea that you have any rights!
You will become a non-entity in the developement....a slight speed bump (very slight) on the road to corporate profits!
Coming to you this fall from the greatest "free market" in the world, Alberta!
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