The times, are they a-changin’?
Standing and the ERCB

For many years, one of the most troublesome points in environmental law in Alberta has been the very narrow scope of standing, the right to participate in court, regulatory or other legal proceedings. This has been particularly evident in relation to energy development and proceedings before the Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB), where the ability for parties to initiate hearings has generally been limited to those with property interests in land within prescribed distances from proposed wells or facilities. However, a trilogy of decisions from the Alberta Court of Appeal seems to signal a shift to a more flexible approach that is more consistent with the ERCB’s mandate to make its decisions in the public interest. Since 2009, the Court of Appeal has issued three decisions involving the same key parties: the ERCB and landowners Susan Kelly, Lillian Duperron and Linda McGinn. As each decision has the same name within its citation, Kelly v. Alberta (Energy Resources Conservation Board), for simplicity we’ll refer to them here as Kelly #1, Kelly #2 and Kelly costs.

Read “The times they are  a-changin’? Standing and the ERCB” on the ELC blog.

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