The Alberta government must produce thousands of documents on its attempts to encourage coal mining in the Rocky Mountains after a judge threw out a bid to block their release.
In denying the government’s request for a judicial review into an order to provide the documents, Justice Kent Teskey warned the province that courts take a dim view of delay being used to neuter public attempts to understand how important decisions are made.
“The requesting parties have been practically denied access to the information they are entitled to at law and this court will not abet this conduct through the availability of judicial review,” he wrote in a judgment released Friday.
“If public bodies are unwilling or unable to comply with their timely obligations under (freedom of information law), they should expect that courts may apply a high level of scrutiny on the availability of judicial review.”
The judgment relates to an attempt by a group of southern Alberta ranchers to understand why the United Conservative Party government chose in 2020 to rescind a decades-old policy that had blocked open-pit coal development from the beloved landscapes of the southern foothills and Rockies.
Can’t say I’m surprised, but there’s some irony in banning renewables to maintain ‘pristine viewscapes’ while still allowing open pit coal mines.
I’m starting to think this Danielle Smith may not have our best interests at heart.
Justice Kent Teskey warned the province that courts take a dim view of delay being used to neuter public attempts to understand how important decisions are made.
I wish the Ontario judges were at least this intelligent.
We’re STILL waiting for Doug Ford’s mandate letters: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/crown-lawyer-hours-ford-mandate-letters-1.6891876
The SCoC ruled in Feb that he gets to keep the mandate letters secret.
Danielle Smith is the literal cancer
The solution is easy: Say it’s Trudeau’s justice and ignore the ruling. /s
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The Alberta government must produce thousands of documents on its attempts to encourage coal mining in the Rocky Mountains after a judge threw out a bid to block their release.
In denying the government’s request for a judicial review into an order to provide the documents, Justice Kent Teskey warned the province that courts take a dim view of delay being used to neuter public attempts to understand how important decisions are made.
“The requesting parties have been practically denied access to the information they are entitled to at law and this court will not abet this conduct through the availability of judicial review,” he wrote in a judgment released Friday.
“If public bodies are unwilling or unable to comply with their timely obligations under (freedom of information law), they should expect that courts may apply a high level of scrutiny on the availability of judicial review.”
Reacting to the court decision, Brian Jean, Minister of Energy and Minerals, said he felt his department had fairly complied with the ranchers’ request.
Recently, the department provided direction to the province’s energy regulator that it should consider exploration licence applications in the Rockies from an Australian coal company.
The original article contains 850 words, the summary contains 194 words. Saved 77%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
