Moving Past the Tipping Point – Alberta’s new land use system
By: Cindy Chiasson
Alberta’s lands have been subject to ever-increasing pressures by population growth, industrial expansion and competition for multiple uses on the same pieces of land.
In its Land Use Framework, the province stated: “What worked for us when our population was only one or two million will not get the job done with four, and soon five million. We have reached a tipping point, where sticking with the old rules will not produce the quality of life we have come to expect. If we want our children to enjoy the same quality of life that current generations have, we need a new land-use system.”
While the new system offers significant potential for improved decision-making and land use in Alberta, it also reserves vast amounts of discretion for provincial cabinet and has left many of the details still to be developed. On December 9, 2009, Cindy Chiasson, Executive Director of the Environmental Law Centre (ELC), reviewed this system and discussed the Land Use Framework, the new Alberta Land Stewardship Act (ALSA), and development of regional land use plans.
There were several questions asked by session participants, which Cindy will be answering on this blog in the coming days. In the meantime, do you have questions? Comments? Concerns? How do you think the Alberta Government did with ALSA?
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