Lethbridge MLAs weigh in on Coal Policy survey results
By Tim Kalinowski on May 21, 2021.
LETHBRIDGE HERALDtkalinowski@lethbridgeherald.com Lethbridge MLAs are saying the Alberta government’s Coal Policy survey results released this week should provide food for thought about how and where to appropriately develop coal in the province, and reveal a strong concern about coal mining from southern Albertans in particular.“Alberta’s government is committed to ensuring that our approach to sensitive topics, such as the long-term approach our province will take towards coal development, is informed by public consultation and addresses the legitimate concerns raised by Albertans,” says Lethbridge-East MLA Nathan Neudorf in a statement provided to The Herald on the survey results. “As is evident by the nearly 25,000 responses received through our recent online Coal Policy Survey, this remains an issue that Albertans are clearly passionate about.
“Coal development is a very real issue for Lethbridge-East,” he later concedes, “as we only live a short drive away from our beautiful Eastern Slopes. That’s why I am proud to see our government taking time to do the difficult but necessary work of gathering feedback from my constituents and other residents of communities across the province to inform the future of coal development in Alberta.”
“It was an extraordinary result,” agreed Lethbridge-West MLA Shannon Phillips at a media event held earlier this week to discuss the survey results. “In fact, eighty-two per cent of Albertans are familiar with the 1976 Coal Policy. That is the 45-year-old policy that protected our Rockies from strip mining. Ninety per cent of people who participated believe that areas that were previously protected, that means the Rockies, the Foothills, wildlife corridors, areas near watersheds, ecologically sensitive areas, areas close to ranchers and farms, should be protected, and are not appropriate for coal exploration and development.”
Other interesting results from the survey show that environmental concerns about potential coal mining in the Eastern Slopes were the main issue for Albertans, and 64 per cent of respondents did not feel the economic benefits of coal mining were of any value to them in their considerations. Over half the survey respondents were from southern Alberta in the lands which would be most heavily impacted by new coal developments.
Phillips said the survey results should have come as no surprise to the UCP government given the public backlash they have been experiencing this past year after unilaterally rescinding the 1976 Coal Policy last May without prior public consultation.
“I know they have heard a lot from Albertans, but they have not yet really demonstrated they are actually listening to Albertans,” Phillips said. “And, of course, it has been almost a year since they quietly rescinded the 1976 Coal Policy via press release on the Friday before the May long weekend last year.
Since then, we have heard from thousands of people. I personally have heard from hundreds of my own constituents directly, and from people in Lethbridge-East as well. We have been hearing exactly what these survey results indicate.
“Albertans are worried about Jason Kenney and the UCP’s plan to hand over previously protected areas to strip mining in our headwaters,” she concluded.
Neudorf says the survey, in his mind, reflects serious concerns that need to be addressed in how to develop coal mines in a socially and environmentally responsible way.
“Alberta has a long and proud history of responsible resource development that has fuelled the economy of our province and our country,” Neudorf states. “Environmental considerations are becoming an increasingly important factor for job creators looking for new jurisdictions for investment, and, unlike our international competitors, Alberta is demonstrating that responsible stewardship of the land is something that our government and public take seriously.
“The survey provided valuable information and guidance for the Coal Policy Committee to consider as they proceed through the engagement process,” he adds. “It is ultimately the committee’s responsibility to gather input from Albertans, which will inform their recommendations in the final report.”
Phillips said she too is cognizant of the need for responsible economic development in Alberta, but felt the survey definitively emphasized that Albertans are not in favour of coal mining as a significant driver of that development.
“There is no question Albertans are worried about jobs and economic development in southern Alberta,” Phillips conceded, “but what I hear over and over again is these plans to strip mine the mountains and really dedicate a lot of our water volumes to this particular activity results in very few jobs, very few royalty revenues, very few other tax revenues to the two or three municipalities that might be affected by this. And what it does is put at risk jobs and economic development that we have already (in agriculture and food processing).
“It can’t put the jobs we already have at risk, and I think that is what Albertans are objecting to.”
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