Alberta proposes oil-site trespass bill to keep federal workers from grabbing data

Alberta's premier said the ban is necessary because she doesn’t trust how the federal government will calculate greenhouse gas emissions as it crafts its proposed emissions cap.

Alberta’s government is proposing a law it says would ban federal employees from going on any oil-related sites — from wellheads to corporate head offices — but critics say the province doesn’t have the right to go against federal law.

Premier Danielle Smith said Wednesday the goal is to keep federal staffers away from any place where oil and gas production and emissions data might be located.

“Alberta will do whatever it takes to shield our economy from the Liberals’ growth-killing lunacy.”

She said the Critical Infrastructure Defence Amendment Act is necessary because she doesn’t trust how the federal government will calculate greenhouse gas emissions as it crafts its proposed emissions cap.

“Because the federal government has come up with different numbers at different times for their own purposes, we think that we actually need to get real data, and because we’re the ones on the ground, we’ll be the ones able to do that work,” she said.

The premier said emissions data is the property of the Alberta government and, if a private company doesn’t comply with the new rules, the province could make it a condition of its licence. She did not specify which licences or leases might be under threat.

She said her government’s proposed bill, if passed, will bind federal employees, but later Wednesday, the government said in an email it won’t apply “when enforcement officers have a ‘lawful right, justification or excuse’ to enter facilities to inspect and/or investigate.”

The legislation introduced Wednesday by Justice Minister Mickey Amery doesn’t specify which federal employees it may or may not target.