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Author: Admin | 2025-04-28
CalgaryThe province urged the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench on Tuesday to dismiss an application for a judicial review of the UCP government's decision to allow open-pit coal mining on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains.Lawyer for government says decision may be unpopular, but it's not unlawfulThis is a file photo of the open-pit coal mine at Sparwood, B.C. The Alberta government wants to open up the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains to similar operations. (Edward Burtynsky/Nicholas Metivier Gallery)The province urged the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench on Tuesday to dismiss an application for a judicial review of the UCP government's decision to allow open-pit coal mining on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. "There's no getting around the fact that the decision to rescind the coal policy may be seen as an unpopular one to some Albertans," said Melissa Burkett, a lawyer for the government."However, an unpopular decision is not an unlawful decision," she told the virtual court hearing via video conferencing.Burkett says the courts are not the venue to resolve the issue, arguing such a policy change is within the mandate of elected officials."This case is a classic example of what happens when courts are turned into political arenas," she said."The rescission of the coal policy was driven by economic, social, political factors. It was a core, high level policy decision, and it's immune from this court review," she said.Landowners, environmental groups, municipalities and First Nations are hoping the court will force the government to revisit its decision to rescind the province's long-standing coal policy that was brought in under former premier Peter Lougheed in 1976.Alberta pauses future coal lease sales in Rocky Mountains, cancels 11 recent leasesThey're trying to persuade Justice Richard Neufeld to order a judicial review of the decision to rescind the
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