The most widely read magazine for Canadian lawyers
Issue link: https://digital.canadianlawyermag.com/i/50820
REAL ESTATE Clear as mud Alberta's revised land use laws should reduce tensions between landowners and oil & gas companies, but could also create a host of new disputes. BY KEVIN MARRON that it regulates. An innovative initiative that charts a T path for sustainable development amid the competing interests of industry, con- servation, tourism, recreation, and urban growth, the province's Land Stewardship Act was battered by a raging sea of criticism from property owners when it was first introduced two years ago. The government has recently tried to pour oil over troubled waters with a series of he fog of controversy and confusion surround- ing Alberta's bold new land use legislation is as murky as the oilsands amendments that still fail to quell the rage of property rights advocates, while stirring up a new set of criticisms from those who fear environmental interests have been compromised. The scope of the legislation is wide and its potential impact far-reaching, so its evolution is being closely watched by Alberta litigators, environmental, municipal, and regulatory lawyers, and those involved in energy and resource development, as well as commercial real estate lawyers. It should also be on the radar screen for lawyers in other prov- inces where similar legislation may well be proposed. "We seem to be ahead of the game, but it's not something that other jurisdictions haven't considered," says environmental lawyer Duff Harper, a partner in the Calgary office of Blake Cassels & Graydon LLP. "If it works and it's beneficial to the environment, then one would expect that other jurisdic- tions would follow suit." What is new and different about the Land Stewardship Act is that it provides a framework for the provincial govern- ment to create land use plans for large geographical regions — just seven in the whole province — that would establish clear priorities for supporting sustainable development and replace the piecemeal www.CANADIAN Lawyermag.com JULY 2011 21 PieRRe-PauL PaRiseau