Can you ever do indirectly that which you cannot do directly? The answer appears to be yes, in certain circumstances according to the Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench decision in Northrock Resources v ExxonMobil Canada Energy, 2016 SKQB 188. This case considers this issue in the context of rights of first refusal ("ROFR") when dealing with oil and gas transactions.
Among ...
On June 20, 2016 the Government of Canada announced its review of several environmental and regulatory processes. The review will focus on three areas:
- the federal Environmental Assessment process, which was revised in 2012 by the Conservative government,
- modernization of the National Energy Board, and
- the federal Fisheries Act and Navigation Protection Act, both of ...
In response to the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench decision in Redwater Energy Corporation (Re), 2016 ABQB 278, the Alberta Energy Regulator ("AER") has issued Bulletin 2016-16 (the "Bulletin") to minimize the risk to Albertans.
In Redwater the Court held that a trustee in bankruptcy has the right to disclaim unproductive oil and gas assets, including those subject to ...
On April 8, 2016, the Alberta Energy Regulator (“AER”) sent a sombre reminder to licensees and their directors and officers, of their corporate responsibilities when ceasing operations because of insolvency or for any other reason. Bulletin 2016-10 reinforced the need for compliance with all AER requirements when ceasing operations. Among several other ...
On February 12, 2016, the Alberta Energy Regulator ("AER") overhauled its compliance and enforcement program with the release of the Integrated Compliance Assurance Framework ("ICAF") and Manual 013: Compliance and Enforcement Program ("Manual 013").The ICAF and Manual 013 supersede and replace Directive 019:Compliance Assurance ("Directive 019"). The AER ...
On September 23, 2015, the Alberta Energy Regulator released Bulletin 2015-28: “Posting of Participation and Procedural Decisions” a significant change in the AER’s practice with respect to the publishing of its decisions. Until now, relatively few AER decisions were directly available on the AER’s website. To date, only five AER decisions from 2015 have been ...
The past week has seen three significant decisions relating to the manner in which the rates of public utilities are to be determined in Canada. Although one can argue about whether the decisions clarify and confirm existing law or create new law, no one can reasonably dispute that utilities face new challenges to establish rates that will allow them to recover all of their ...
Introduction
On June 26, 2014, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) released its much anticipated decision on Aboriginal title in the Tsilhqot’in case and surprised many by granting the Tsilhqot’in Nation a declaration of Aboriginal title to approximately 200,000 hectares (2,000 km2) of land.
The Tsilhqot’in case is the first case decided by the SCC granting ...
British Columbia has become the latest North American jurisdiction to give utility regulators – in this case the BC Utilities Commission - the power to impose “administrative penalties”. Administrative penalties are like fines, but are imposed directly by the regulator outside the court process. The fines can range from $25,000 to $1,000,000 per day, depending on ...
Since 2009, the Alberta government has reserved for itself the right to exempt electricity transmission projects from review by the Alberta Utilities Commission. Exempted projects have been referred to as Bill 50 Projects, Bill 50 being the name of the law when it was first proposed. Billions of dollars worth of Bill 50 Projects have been advanced since 2009, and those ...
About Us
Lawson Lundell's Environmental, Indigenous and Natural Resources Blog focuses on environmental, indigenous and natural resources law, as well as related litigation. Included are summaries of significant cases from Canadian appellate courts, changes in the legal framework governing resource development including energy and climate change policy, and key decisions from the more influential regulatory bodies in Canada.
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