Landowner seeks AER investigation of Smith’s top energy adviser

By ZOE MASON on January 30, 2026.

zmason@medicinehatnews.com

An Alberta landowner has submitted a request for investigation to the Alberta Energy Regulator, alleging that Premier Danielle Smith’s top energy adviser may be breaching conflict of interest rules.

Dwight Popowich, a landowner in Two Hills with an orphaned well on his land, submitted a similar complaint to the Alberta ethics commissioner in July. That complaint was dismissed Dec. 10.

David Yager was the primary architect of the mature asset strategy, a government report that recommends using taxpayer dollars to create an insurance program to cover liabilities related to closed wells, currently the legal obligation of the oil and gas companies themselves.

He is also a special adviser to the premier, a board member of the arm’s-length energy regulator, the proprietor of an oil and gas consulting company and the recipient of more than $400,000 in government contracts since 2023.

“We really feel that it just can’t be the case that there’s no effective checks or balances, that an insider with so many conflicts of interest like this can be writing government policy that affects so many people and billions of dollars,” said Susanne Calabrese, a lawyer at EcoJustice representing Popowich, in an interview with the News.

“It can’t just be rejected on a technicality. That’s not acceptable.”

The previous complaint was thrown out in part due to ethics commissioner Shawn McLeod arguing Yager failed to meet the criteria as a senior official or an employee of the premier, which McLeod said put him outside the OEC’s jurisdiction. Calabrese says Yager clearly meets the criteria to fall within the jurisdiction of the AER.

According to the AER’s conflict of interest policy, dated Oct. 30 2024, a conflict of interest is defined as a situation that places, or may be perceived by others as placing, a director, hearing commissioner, or employee in a position where their personal interests may influence their decisions or actions in their capacity at the AER.

The same document defines a director as an individual appointed as an AER director by order in council, including the AER chair.

An order in council, dated Apr. 26 2024, appointed Yager as a member of the board of directors of the AER, for a term to expire Apr. 25, 2026.

“The conflict policy at the AER is very clear that it covers not only actual conflicts, but also ones that are just a perceived conflict,” said Calabrese.

The policy also precludes members and employees from acting in self interest or furthering their private interests by virtue of their position as a member or employee of the AER.

“Yager’s work on the mature asset strategy clearly resulted in him getting hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer money for consulting on matters related to AER’s core functioning,” said Calabrese.

“They can’t deny that he’s part of them. He is on the board, and he identifies himself as such,” Popowich told the News.

Still, Popowich isn’t optimistic the outcome will be different than his last complaint.

“They’re notorious for wiggling out of stuff,” he said. “I’m not going to hold my breath on this one.”

Popowich says landowners pushed for a hearing to discuss raising the AER orphan well levy.

A report published by former University of Calgary Public Interest Law Clinic lawyer Drew Yewchuk found that an insufficient levy rate in 2025 produced a funding shortfall of $1.2 billion. The report also called for the annual process of determining the levy to be open to the public.

Their request for a hearing was denied.

“The mature asset strategy has been widely criticized. It prioritizes industry profits at the expense of Albertans’ health and safety public funds,” said Calabrese. “Taxpayer dollars should go towards chronically underfunded essential services in Alberta like health care and education. Not to subsidize the oil and allow them to break promises and go against the polluter pays principle.”

Calabrese says their first goal is to have the AER investigate their claims – a step further than their last complaint made it.

“I also hope that when the AER and others take a real close look at how the mature asset strategy was made, they’ll think really critically about tossing it and getting some real solutions for Alberta.”

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