In late May, the Supreme Court of Canada the SCC denied an application for leave to appeal a decision of the Court of Appeal of Alberta the ABCA, which, in turn, had denied leave to appeal of the decision of the Court of King s Bench of Alberta the ABKB in Re Mantle Materials Group, Ltd, 2023 ABKB 488 Mantle KB. The decision in Mantle KB held that the interests of secured creditors are subordinate to environmental obligations pursuant to the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act EPEA, thus confirming that the priority of environmental obligations determined by the SCC in Orphan Well Association v Grant Thornton Ltd, 2019 SCC 5 Redwater applies beyond the oil and gas industry.
A recent decision out of the Alberta Court of Appeal1 found that as soon as a company handed over their investigative reports to regulators in connection with a pipeline incident, privilege over the reports was lost.
Discover the implications of the Alberta Court of Appeal s decision in the Qualex-Landmark case, which limits the application of the Redwater ruling on environmental priority. Explore how this ruling affects environmental remediation claims, secured creditors, and private litigation in Alberta.
The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal has confirmed that the Supreme Court of Canada s decision in Orphan Well Association v. Grant Thornton Ltd, 2019 SCC 5 [Redwater], applies in Saskatchewan. The Court of Appeal also affirmed that orders made in failed proceedings in Alberta under the Companies Creditors Arrangement Act did not have effect in subsequent receivership proceedings in Saskatchewan. The Court held that the CCAA proceedings did not impose payment obligations on Bow River outside of the statutory requirements already present. Additionally, the CCAA proceedings did not establish a trust that favored the Rural Municipalities.
The Alberta Minister of Energy released Ministerial Order 043/2023 on March 16, 2023. The Order requires the Alberta Energy Regulator AER to take reasonable steps to confirm that a well licence applicant, transferee or transferor does not have outstanding municipal tax arrears exceeding a specific threshold amount.