Publication News | Not Fit for Purpose: Oil Sands Mines and Alberta’s Mine Financial Security Program

Co-authored by Professor Martin Olszynski, Drew Yewchuk, JD'17 and the University of Alberta's Professor Andrew Leach, "Not Fit for Purpose: Oil Sands Mines and Alberta’s Mine Financial Security Program" examines Alberta’s Mine Financial Security Program (MFSP) and the reforms necessary to manage the significant environmental harms and costs associated with mines "for which responsible parties cannot be found because they have gone bankrupt, left the jurisdiction, or are unwilling to accept responsibility…"

The authors' primary recommendation is for Alberta to convene an independent and transparent expert panel, with opportunities for public participation, to recommend a regime that adequately incentives progressive remediation and reclamation and secures outstanding oil sands liabilities while not exacerbating the near-term risk of default.

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