Legal and Policy Responses to Environmental Offences in Relation to the Alberta Oil Sands

Abstract

This article reviews the environmental enforcement culture in the province of Alberta, Canada to ascertain what mechanisms are in place in the province for responding to the commission of environmental offences, especially in the context of the oil sands, and the extent to which those mechanisms are being used by Alberta’s enforcement agencies. It begins with an analysis of the regulatory architecture for oil and gas operations in Alberta in order to identify the jurisdictional reach or limitation of the Alberta province vis a vis the Canadian federal government as stipulated in the Canadian constitution. The article identifies and discusses the environmental enforcement techniques available in Alberta. It pays particular attention to the use of creative sentencing in environmental cases in Alberta. One criticism it makes against the use of creative sentencing is that there is minimal involvement of victims of environmental offences in creative sentencing decisions, especially when compared to the involvement of the offender. The paper also highlights the inadequate attention paid to the situation of victims of environmental offences in Alberta. The article hopes to contribute to a more effective enforcement of environmental offences in Alberta.