NDP CALL ON UCP TO DENOUNCE CLIMATE CHANGE DENIALISM OF PUBLIC INQUIRY, REMOVE COMMISSIONER

CALGARY - Alberta’s NDP are calling on the UCP government to denounce climate change denying views supported by the public inquiry into environmental campaigns and remove Steve Allan from his position as commissioner of the inquiry. 

NDP Energy Critic Kathleen Ganley made the call in a letter to Energy Minister Sonya Savage on Friday. In the letter, Ganley calls the inquiry “an embarrassment that is hurting our international reputation and could have negative impacts on investment and our energy industry.” 

Ganley further asks Savage to “send a clear statement to the international investment community and denounce the views expressed in the reports commissioned by the Inquiry,” and “stop the Inquiry immediately and remove Mr. Allan from his role as Commissioner.”

The letter comes after it was revealed that Allan had commissioned reports for the inquiry that were described as “textbook examples of climate change denialism,” according to Martin Olszynski, associate professor at the University of Calgary faculty of law.

In Olszynski’s submission to the inquiry, he also states that “these reports are replete with generalizations, speculation, conjecture, and even conspiracy.”

The final inquiry report was initially due in July 2020. However, the deadline was initially extended until October 2020 and again until January 2021. Due to the delays, the inquiry budget grew from $2.5 million to $3.5 million.

“Our caucus supports timely and impartial research into the factors that impact our energy industry. However, the Inquiry led by Mr. Allan has failed on all fronts,” Ganley wrote.