A Review of the Environmental Enforcement Culture in Alberta in Relation to the Oil Sands

Abstract

This paper reviews the environmental enforcement culture in Alberta, Canada, with a view to ascertaining the mechanisms in place in Alberta for responding to the commission of environmental offences in the context of the Alberta oil sands and the extent to which those mechanisms are being used. After reviewing the environmental regulatory architecture for oil and gas operations in Alberta, the paper discusses the nature of environmental offences. The environmental enforcement techniques available in Alberta are then discussed, with a particular focus on their application to oil-sands related offences. The paper also deals with the concept of creative sentencing as well as with the status of victims of environmental offences in Alberta.