EDMONTON - Alberta's energy regulator has fined a company $456,000 for submitting false or misleading information in its applications for reclamation approval. The regulator says CEPro Energy and Environmental Services submitted five certificate applications in 2023 that were incomplete, while two contained false or misleading information. A decision published by the regulator doesn't specify what information was falsified but says providing misleading information is a major contravention [Read more]

VANCOUVER - British Columbia's power utility is facing transformational challenges of drought, rising costs and a trade war with the United States as it works to meet electricity demand that's surging after two decades of relative stability. An expected demand increase of 15 per cent by 2030 is sparking questions about whether BC Hydro is ready, with one former B.C. environment minister saying the province faces a power gap. The Crown utility says it imported a net 13,600 gigawatt hours of [Read more]

OTTAWA - The Alberta separatist movement presents a danger to the federal Conservative party, said former Tory member of Parliament Stockwell Day. "I'll lose friends saying this: — it will only split the vote and only strengthen the Liberal position," he said in an interview from Edmonton. In the most recent federal election, more than 1.4 million Albertans voted for a Conservative candidate and elected 34 of the party's 143 MPs. Day said both an independent Alberta and a separatist [Read more]

VICTORIA - B.C. Premier David Eby says a trade mission to Asia next month will help the province become the "engine of a new Canada," but one economist says B.C. also needs to become more competitive at home. Eby will be visiting Japan, South Korea and Malaysia between June 1 and June 10 as part of a business delegation also including B.C. Agriculture Minister Lana Popham and Paul Choi, parliamentary secretary for Asia-Pacific trade. Eby says the trip is aimed at deepening ties with [Read more]

EDMONTON - The national chief of the Assembly of First Nations is calling for a federal review of nearly century-old natural resource transfer agreements in response to Alberta's government opening the door to a separation referendum. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has introduced a bill that, if passed, would make it far easier for Albertans to launch referendums on various topics — including splitting from Canada. Smith has pointed to growing alienation in her province and frustration [Read more]

VANCOUVER - Drier, warmer weather in much of British Columbia last month has contributed to an early melt, raising concern for widespread drought this summer, the province's latest snowpack and water supply bulletin says. The drought, in turn, is curtailing B.C.'s ability to generate hydroelectricity, where most of the province's power comes from, said former provincial environment minister Barry Penner, who now chairs the Energy Futures Institute. Penner said B.C. is on track to become a [Read more]