The hard road back to democracy by Janet Keeping for The Calgary Herald, September 20, 2007
Recent revelations of spying by the Energy and Utilities Board on people who oppose new energy facilities, such as electricity transmission lines, will come as a shocking disappointment to many Albertans.
The EUB has been touted as the epitome of government regulatory agencies — technically competent, ethically trustworthy and a leader in nurturing good relations among industry, government and the public. Let’s leave technical competence aside for the moment. Although there is plenty of criticism there, too, it is of a different kind.
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Cartoon from Justice D W Perras Report on EUB’s “repulsive” spying scandal
EUB (Energy Utilities Board) was ERCB (Energy Resources Conservation Board). After the spying scandal, Alberta govt switched EUB back to ERCB; after Ernst’s lawsuit went public, govt turned it into AER (Alberta Energy Regulator).
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The EUB’s reputation as a trustworthy agency committed to transparency lies in tatters. …
But we should all be gravely concerned about the EUB’s deception, lack of respect for human rights and illegality (see below), because the proper regulation of energy development is of critical importance to Albertans.
Rumours of harassment of energy development opponents — for example, phones tapped and tires slashed — have circulated for years.
Hence not all Albertans are surprised by what is coming to light. But now that there is solid evidence of spying by the EUB and the Alberta Privacy Commissioner, Frank Work, has ruled that in so doing the EUB violated provincial privacy law, some difficult questions can no longer be avoided. …
So how did such unethical leadership take hold at the EUB? Other theories will be advanced, but I think the EUB has fundamentally lost its way.
Even though the phrase is enshrined in every law that governs its operations — the EUB as an entity, and its leadership in particular, have forgotten that they are to work “in the public interest.” [and, after the Ernst lawsuit went public, the Alberta government completely removed the public interest from the AER’s mandate!]
This doesn’t mean only in the interests of the oil and gas or electricity generating industries; nor does it mean only in the economic interests of the province, since Albertans cherish other values as well, such as environmental protection and the maintenance of vibrant rural communities.
In forgetting that their primary obligation is to act in the public interest, the EUB has come to view those who oppose energy developments, such as the new electricity transmission line, not as concerned citizens exercising their democratic rights of free expression and association, but as the enemy, against which at least some people at the EUB think it is justified to use illegal measures. …
But using undercover security — in at least one case to pose as an “aggrieved landowner” — is sneaky and profoundly undemocratic.
“Repulsive” is the word used by retired judge Del Perras to describe this behaviour in his report on some elements of the scandal.
Cartoon from Justice D W Perras Report on EUB’s “repulsive” spying scandal
EUB (Energy Utilities Board) was ERCB (Energy Resources Conservation Board). After the spying scandal, Alberta govt switched EUB back to ERCB; after Ernst’s lawsuit went public, govt turned it into AER (Alberta Energy Regulator) and removed “public interest” from the 100% industry-controlled/funded regulator.
As a Montana legislator said when he learned that the privacy of some American citizens had also been compromised by EUB spies, “I think it speaks very poorly for the state of democracy in Alberta and Canada.
Who is running Alberta? Is it the fossil fuel industries or is it the people?” … Trust in the EUB as an ethical regulator is gone. [Today, in 2019, AER is nastier towards ordinary Albertans than ever, most dishonest, more despicable, and 100% industry controlled and funded.]