Canadian Lawyer InHouse

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2018 34 INHOUSE In-house regulator By Jennifer Brown I n her job as legal counsel at the Alberta Energy Regulator, Keely Cameron ad- vises clients and has helped draft legisla- tion, reviewed contracts and represented the regulator before all three levels of court including the Supreme Court of Canada. In particular, the AER appeared before the Su- preme Court of Canada in February of this year to dispute a ruling by Alberta courts. It was a major initiative for an in-house litigation team facing mounting costs and in - creased workload during a high-volume time in the province's distressed energy market. The downturn in the oil and gas economy in Alberta created serious and complex issues for the AER and various stakeholders, includ- ing industry players, financiers, landowners, governments and the tax-paying public. This has put incredible strain on the AER and its resources, necessitating that it innovatively manages its growing insolvency litigation and related portfolio consistent with its limited legal budget and its obligation to protect the wide-ranging interests of Albertans. "I am aware that Ms. Cameron has been at the forefront of this innovation and litiga - tion management effort for the AER," said Christa Nicholson, partner at Jensen Shawa Solomon Duguid Hawkes LLP in Calgary. In April of 2017, in a landmark appeal de - cision, the majority of the Alberta Court of Appeal had dismissed an appeal by the AER and Orphan Well Association of the decision of the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta in the Redwater Energy Corporation receiver - ship and bankruptcy proceedings. In a case closely watched by the insol- vency industry and the oil and gas industry, the Alberta Court of Appeal held that Grant Thornton Limited, the receiver and trustee in the Redwater receivership and bankruptcy proceedings, was entitled to disclaim Redwa - ter's non-producing oil wells and sell its pro- ducing ones. Redwater was a junior oil and gas producer that went into insolvency in the spring of 2015. It owed its bank, ATB Finan- cial, about $5 million. Upon appointment, the receiver conducted an assessment of Redwater's assets and ad- vised the AER that of the 91 wells in which Redwater held licences, it would only be tak- ing possession of 20 wells, facilities and as- sociated pipelines, which the AER opposed. The cost of remediation for disclaimed wells can often exceed their value. At issue was whether the provin- cial regulatory regime under the Oil and Gas Conservation Act and the Pipeline Act conflicted operation- ally with the federal Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. In particular, the Redwater case deals with the extent to which Alberta regulatory requirements regarding the obligations of li - censees to abandon and reclaim their energy sites survived subsequent creditor claims. It began in May of 2016, when the Alberta Queen's Bench ruled in favour of the bank- ruptcy trustee representing Redwater Energy Corp. Under the ruling, profits from the sale of assets would go first to creditors — not to- ward cleaning up operation sites. In the lower court decisions, they found various portions of Alberta law were inopera- tive to the extent that they conflicted with the takes case to SCC CATEGORY: Litigation DEPARTMENT SIZE: Large, Public Sector COMPANY: Alberta Energy Regulator Keely Cameron, legal counsel, Alberta Energy Regulator PHOTO: BRIAN HARDER

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