The Kenney government has announced another step in its $2.5-million Public Inquiry Into Anti-Alberta Energy Campaigns launched earlier this summer.
Last week the government said it has set up a website, AlbertaInquiry.ca, to provide an avenue for the public to “contribute relevant information” to the inquiry.
The overall inquiry, which is taking place under the Public Inquiries Act, is looking at campaigns in Alberta supported by foreign organizations.
The inquiry’s mandate is to determine whether “any foreign organization that has evinced (shown) an intent harmful or injurious to the Alberta oil and gas industry has provided financial assistance to a Canadian organization that has disseminated misleading or false information about the Alberta oil and gas industry.
“And whether any Canadian organization referred to above has also received grants or other discretionary funding from the government of Alberta, from municipal, provincial or territorial governments in Canada or from the government of Canada.”
According to the government, the commission overseeing the inquiry will determine whether foreign funds are being provided and (thereby) “enable the government of Alberta to respond effectively to any anti-Alberta energy campaigns funded, in whole or in part, by foreign interests.”
For his part, Premier Jason Kenney says the inquiry is long overdue.
“There’s never been a formal investigation into all aspects of the anti-Alberta campaign,” said Kenney. “The mandate for commissioner Steve Allen will be to bring together all the available information.”
Opposition MLA Deron Bilous calls the inquiry a waste of taxpayers’ money.
“This is a fool’s errand,” said Bilous. “I don’t believe this will help Alberta further its interest in accessing pipelines and expanding our market access.”
Keith Stewart, a strategist with Greenpeace Canada, says the inquiry is an attempt to silence government critics.
If foreign powers and interests are unfairly targeting the province’s vital oil and gas industry, Albertans need to know about it.
At the same time, residents will be rightly upset if this inquiry turns out to be nothing more than a government-funded attack on the UCP’s opponents.
- Singleton is the Mountain View Gazette editor
