Begging to differ on oil sands

An Alberta government multistakeholder committee assigned to chart a course for oil sands development achieved consensus on 96 of its 120 recommendations. But where there was disagreement it was deep, with the 19 members of the committee unable to reach unanimity on the most pressing environmental issues, such as water use and targets for greenhouse gas emissions and the push by some members to impose a moratorium until those matters were resolved.

The committee was drawn from provincial and municipal governments, aboriginal communities, environmental groups and industry. The findings were submitted to Energy Minister Mel Knight, Environment Minister Rob Renner and the Minister of Sustainable Resource Development Ted Morton. A spokesman for Alberta Energy said that although the recommendations are now being reviewed by several government departments, action is already being taken on some issues.

Dan Woynillowicz, a policy analyst with the Pembina Institute, was heavily critical of the committee’s work, saying some members were only interested in protecting the status quo when many of those who appeared before the committee were troubled by the runaway pace of development.

He said it now rests with Premier Ed Stelmach to tackle that concern head-on.

Industry officials said there was no need for a moratorium, now that galloping costs of labor and materials has generated its own slowdown.They also said the Alberta government has started dealing with the major infrastructure issues by earmarking C$400 million for additional health care, housing and water systems in the oil sands region.

Committee Chairman Vance MacNichol said there was a lot of common ground among the committee members, even though the gaps could not be closed on key environmental-related issues. He urged the government to pay close attention to the “non-consensus issues” as quickly as possible.

—Gary Park