Table of contents
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Search public engagements
- Alberta Pension Plan engagement
- Alberta Police Service transition study
- K to 6 curriculum engagement
- Persons with Developmental Disabilities Safety Standards Consultation
- 2016 Forest and Prairie Protection Act amendments engagement
- Castle and Wildland provincial parks management plan engagement
- Caribou conservation agreement engagement
- Budget 2016 consultation
- Bow Basin water management options engagement
- 10-year tourism strategy engagement
- Physician-assisted death public engagement
- Agency and Human Services Procurement Advisory Table engagement
- Alberta Firearms Advisory Committee
- Child care engagement
- Commercial tenancy support feedback
- Curriculum advisory panel
- Local election rules engagement (2020)
- Mental health and addiction advisory council
- Choice in education engagement
- Skills for Jobs Task Force
- Municipal Government Act review
- Student Transportation Task Force
- Addiction and mental health services engagement
- Cut Red Tape engagement
- Advisory Panel on Coal Communities
- Advocate for Persons with Disabilities consultation
- Wapiti river water management plan engagement
- Bow Valley human-wildlife coexistence engagement
- Energy Efficiency Advisory Panel
- Budget 2020 consultation
- Infrastructure planning engagement
- Food regulation engagement
- Human Trafficking Task Force
- Talent Advisory Council on Technology
- Transportation regulation engagement
- Vision for student learning engagement
- Alberta Energy Regulator review
- Alberta Health Services review
- Arts Professions Act engagement
- Budget 2019 consultation (February)
- Castle region tourism strategy engagement
- Child safety seat consultation
- City Charters
- Condominium rules consultation
- Conversion Therapy Working Group
- Daylight saving time engagement
- Employment standards engagement
- Farm freedom and safety engagement
- FSCD Listening sessions
- MacKinnon Report on Alberta's Finances
- Mental Health Act engagement
- Minimum wage expert panel
- Road testing engagement
- Rural crime engagement
- Supervised consumption services review
- Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction engagement
- Tobacco and smoking reduction review
- Youth employment rules engagement
- Agricultural policy framework engagement
- Commercial driver and road test engagement
- Local Authorities Election Act engagement (2018)
- Local food engagement
- OHS regulations consultation
- Sixties Scoop apology engagement
- Builder licensing engagement
- Consumer protection consultation
- Farm and Ranch workplace consultations
- Farm and ranch workplace legislation
- Glenora building – Former Royal Alberta Museum
- Indigenous off-reserve affordable housing engagement
- OHS system review
- Opioid emergency response commission
- Output Based Allocation System Engagement
- Resident and Family Councils Act - PDD consultation
- Driver medical exams engagement
- Farmer-led research engagement
- Clare’s Law phase 2 engagement
- Alberta Joint Working Group on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG)
- Alberta 2030: Building Skills for Jobs engagement
- Red tape industry panels
- Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act review
- Radiation Protection Act review
- Affordable Housing Review Panel
- Highway 697 bridge financing engagement
- RAPID Response engagement
- Species at risk engagements
- Police Act review
- Victim services engagement
- Family and Community Support Services engagement
- Moose Lake 10 km management zone plan engagement
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Fisheries engagements
- Alberta fisheries management engagement
- Fisheries Action Plan communications preference survey
- Fisheries regulation changes 2019-20 engagement
- Eastern slopes fisheries regulations engagement
- Decontamination protocol engagement for industry and construction
- Barbless hooks engagement
- Bow River fisheries regulation changes engagement
- Lac Bellevue angler survey
- Lower Athabasca region fisheries management survey
- North central native trout recovery engagement
- North Saskatchewan region fisheries management survey
- Northern pike and walleye management frameworks engagement
- South Saskatchewan region fisheries management survey
- 2021-22 Sportfishing regulations engagement
- Fisheries regulations survey
- 2022-23 Sportfishing regulations engagement
- Lake Trout Working Group for Cold Lake
- Porsild’s bryum recovery plan engagement
- Ferruginous hawk draft recovery plan engagement
- Livingstone-Porcupine Hills footprint and recreation plans engagement
- Caribou range planning engagement
- Whitebark and limber pine recovery plan engagement
- Western grebe draft recovery plan engagement
- Bow River access plan engagement
- Peregrine falcon recovery plan engagement
- Bighorn Country proposal engagement
- Minerals strategy stakeholder engagement
- Budget 2021 consultation
- Energy Diversification Advisory Committee
- Condominium dispute resolution engagement
- Climate Change Advisory Panel
- Oil Sands Emissions Limit engagement
- Automobile insurance reform committee
- Mooring standards engagement
- Utilities Consumer Advocate engagement
- Workers' Compensation Board (WCB) Review
- Workers’ compensation review
- Mobile home site issues engagement
- Labour union dues and financial disclosure engagement
- Family Support for Children with Disabilities engagement
- Alberta Crown Land Vision
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Flood study engagements
- Athabasca flood study engagement
- Bow and Elbow River flood study engagement
- Camrose flood study engagement
- Cardston flood study engagement
- Drumheller flood study engagement
- Fort Macleod flood study engagement
- Medicine Hat flood study engagement
- North Saskatchewan River flood study engagement
- Peace River flood study engagement
- Pincher Creek flood study engagement
- Priddis flood study engagement
- Red Deer River flood study engagement
- Sheep River flood study engagement
- Siksika Bow River flood study engagement
- Slave Lake flood study engagement
- St. Albert flood study engagement
- Upper Bow River flood study engagement
- Fort McMurray flood study engagement
- Upper Red Deer River flood study engagement
- Fort Vermilion flood study engagement
- Highwood River flood study engagement
- Sustainable outdoor recreation engagement
- Financing Highway 697 project engagement
- Kitaskino Nuwenëné Wildland Park engagement
- Persons with Developmental Disabilities Committee
- Reviewing Alberta's continuing care system
- Cold Lake Sub-regional Plan engagement
- Bull trout recovery plan engagement
- Roadside worker safety engagement
- Bistcho Lake Sub-regional Plan engagement
- Extended Producer Responsibility engagement
- Energy storage engagement
- OHS Code review
- Sub-regional planning engagements
- Coal policy engagement
- Updated draft K-6 curriculum engagement
- Feral Horse Advisory Committee
- Supporting Alberta Working Parents Advisory Group
- Fish Creek Provincial Park trails engagement
- Bow River Reservoir Options engagement
- Skilled trades and apprenticeship engagement
- Child and Youth Well-Being Review
- Agricultural Policy Framework engagement (2021-23)
- Elder abuse prevention engagement
- Local Food Council
- Surface water quality management framework engagements
- Privacy protection engagement
- Fair Deal Panel
- Strategic Aviation Advisory Council
- Education Services Agreement draft standards engagement
- Wildlife Management and the Vision for Recreational Hunting engagement
- Rural economic development engagement
- Wild turkey management engagement
- Drinking water standards engagement
- Provincial police service engagement
- Surveys Act engagement
- Modernizing cooperative legislation engagement
- Photo radar engagement
- Budget 2022 consultation
- Coordinated Community Response to Homelessness Task Force
- Research Commercialization Working Group
- Mine Financial Security Program engagement
- West Bragg Creek Trails Master Plan engagement
- Made in Alberta engagement
- Potable water regulation updates engagement
- Stormwater management engagement
- Alberta EMS Provincial Advisory Committee
- Edmonton Metro Region Economic Recovery Working Group
- Calgary Office Revitalization and Expansion Working Group
- Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park management plan engagement
- Regulated property assessment model engagement
- Personal Property Security engagement
- Big Island Provincial Park engagement
- Private sector pensions review engagement
- Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction Regulation Review
- Career Education Task Force
- Parkdale Home stakeholder engagement
- Lower Athabasca Regional Plan review engagement
- Anti-racism engagement
- New teacher code of conduct engagement
- Modernizing Alberta's Primary Health Care System
- New homebuyer protection engagement
- Budget 2023 consultation
- Premier’s Advisory Task Force on Ukraine
- Public Security Indigenous Advisory Committee
- Digital Strategy engagement
- Edmonton Public Safety and Community Response Task Force
- Calgary Public Safety and Community Response Task Force
- Legislature grounds improvement engagement
- 2023-24 Sportfishing Regulation Engagement
- Public Health Emergencies Governance Review Panel
- Post-secondary gender-based violence stakeholder engagement
- Diabetes Working Group
- Tiny Cryptantha Recovery Plan engagement
- Small-Flowered Sand-Verbena Recovery Plan engagement
- Fort Chipewyan working group
- Recovery Expert Advisory Panel
- Improving the health system
- Public inquiry into anti-Alberta energy campaigns
- Glossary of terms
- Public engagements 2012 to 2015
Overview
For over a decade, an alleged, well-funded foreign campaign has defamed Alberta’s energy industry and sought to landlock our natural resources. The reputational harm to the province's energy sector has limited government and industry revenue, and cost Albertans and Canadians thousands of jobs.
The government launched a public inquiry, under the Public Inquiries Act, into the existence of this anti-Alberta energy campaign and the foreign sources of funds behind it.
In July 2019, Steve Allan, a Calgary forensic and restructuring accountant with 40 years of experience, was appointed as commissioner to lead the inquiry.
Final report
The final report for the public inquiry into anti-Alberta energy campaigns details the investigation into the funding being used by foreign special interest groups to landlock Alberta’s natural resources. The report confirms the existence of well-funded, decade-long campaigns that have impacted the lives and livelihoods of Albertans.
Key findings
- After years of targeting oil an gas infrastructure projects, and the financial and insurance companies which backed them, beginning in 2012, proponents claim these campaigns have achieved more than 1,000 divestments representing $8 trillion.
- This includes 7 campaigns specifically targeting divestment in the Alberta oil sands.
- The report identifies that there are large amounts of foreign funding flowing into Canada, which has the potential to influence matters of public interest to Albertans and Canadians.
- Total foreign funding of “Canadian-based” environmental initiatives was $1.28 billion between 2003 and 2019. The commissioner states that these figures are likely significantly understated. This includes:
- $925 million in foreign funding reported by Canadian charities for “environmental initiatives”
- $352 million in foreign funding of “Canadian-based” environmental initiatives, such as anti-pipeline campaigns, that remained in the U.S.
- Of this funding, $54.1 million in funding was provided through grants which were described as representing “anti-Alberta resource development activity.” This total is expected to be significantly underrepresented.
See full overview of key findings
Mandate
The commissioner was directed to:
- inquire into anti-Alberta energy campaigns that are supported by foreign organizations, and determine:
- if they provide financial assistance to a Canadian organization which has disseminated incomplete, misleading or false information about the Alberta oil and gas industry
- if the Canadian organization(s) has/have charitable status and/or receive grants or other funding from municipal, provincial or federal governments
- examine investigations completed in other jurisdictions into similar activities
- make recommendations to assist the Government of Alberta:
- respond effectively to any anti-Alberta energy campaigns
- consider additional eligibility criteria for government grants or charitable status
Read the full Terms of Reference, which has been amended through the following Orders in Council:
- OC 191/2020 (June 25, 2020)
- OC 249/2020 (August 5, 2020) (PDF, 38 KB)
- OC 326/2020 (October 28, 2020) (PDF, 32 KB)
Biography
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Steve Allan
Mr. Allan is a leading forensic and restructuring accountant with more than 40 years experience in the field. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Alberta and holds the ICD.D designation with the Institute of Corporate Directors.
He currently serves as the board chair for Calgary Economic Development and is a respected volunteer and community leader who advocates for economic development, poverty reduction, sports and the arts.
Mr. Allan’s accomplishments include being recognized by the Turnaround Management Association for his work in helping to restructure the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, serving as Chair of the Canadian Tourism Commission, and receiving the Alberta Order of Excellence.
Read Steve Allan’s full biography (PDF, 50 KB)
News
- Foreign funding hurt Alberta’s energy development (October 21, 2021)
- Public inquiry report: Statement from Minister Savage (July 30, 2021)
- Public inquiry extension: Minister Savage (October 28, 2020)
- Public inquiry: Statement from Minister Savage (June 25, 2020)
- Standing up for Alberta: Minister Savage (November 21, 2019)
- Fight back on foreign funding (September 9, 2019)
- Standing up to foreign influences (July 4, 2019)