Making Federalism through Law: Regulating Socio-economic Challenges of Energy Development, a Case Study of Alberta’s Oil sands and the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo

atmire.migration.oldid1708
dc.contributor.advisorLucas, Alastair
dc.contributor.advisorKwasniak, Arlene
dc.contributor.authorThompson, Chidinma Bernadine
dc.date.accessioned2013-12-19T16:18:42Z
dc.date.available2014-03-15T07:00:17Z
dc.date.issued2013-12-19
dc.date.submitted2013en
dc.description.abstractSocio-economic challenges of large scale oil and gas development, especially oil sands, within municipal boundaries are not given adequate attention in Alberta’s oil and gas development regulatory framework. There is no forum in the framework that allows a thorough consideration and proactive resolution, by responsible governments, of socio-economic challenges of large scale energy development prior to, or at the time of, project approvals. The jurisdiction of municipal authorities to regulate such development is highly circumscribed. None of the recently adopted initiatives by the province seems to have closed this gap in the regulatory framework. The gap exists because Alberta’s oil and gas regulatory framework adopts the unitary model of governance. Given the critical role of public infrastructure and services in energy resource development, the thesis recommends a reform of Alberta’s legislative and regulatory framework for energy development using federalism and its underlying principle of non-centralization. The thesis recommends a suite of non-centralized intergovernmental mechanisms which can conveniently fit into the regulatory framework and anchored in the energy legislative scheme. Using legally-mandated intergovernmental partnerships, Alberta can proactively obviate severe growth pressures, crippling demands on public infrastructure and services, lower quality of life for workers in the host areas, difficulty in attracting and retaining a workforce, and greater risk to energy resource development and huge private investment. A weather-proof regulatory framework with built-in, federal fail-safe mechanisms that enable energy development projects while preserving the wellbeing of host communities is sine qua non to achieve Alberta’s ambitious global energy leadership goals.en_US
dc.identifier.citationThompson, C. B. (2013). Making Federalism through Law: Regulating Socio-economic Challenges of Energy Development, a Case Study of Alberta’s Oil sands and the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/26816en_US
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/26816
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11023/1216
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisher.facultyGraduate Studies
dc.publisher.facultyLaw
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Calgaryen
dc.publisher.placeCalgaryen
dc.rightsUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.
dc.subjectLaw
dc.subject.classificationoil sandsen_US
dc.subject.classificationLegislativeen_US
dc.subject.classificationRegulatoryen_US
dc.subject.classificationSocio-economicen_US
dc.subject.classificationFederalismen_US
dc.subject.classificationEnergyen_US
dc.subject.classificationOil and Gasen_US
dc.subject.classificationMunicipalen_US
dc.subject.classificationGovernmenten_US
dc.subject.classificationPolicyen_US
dc.subject.classificationIntergovernmental Partnershipen_US
dc.subject.classificationInfrastructureen_US
dc.subject.classificationNon-centralizationen_US
dc.subject.classificationWorkforceen_US
dc.subject.classificationresource developmenten_US
dc.subject.classificationAlbertaen_US
dc.subject.classificationCanadaen_US
dc.subject.classificationRegional Municipality of Wood Buffaloen_US
dc.titleMaking Federalism through Law: Regulating Socio-economic Challenges of Energy Development, a Case Study of Alberta’s Oil sands and the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo
dc.typedoctoral thesis
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Calgary
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy (PhD)
ucalgary.item.requestcopytrue
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name:
ucalgary_2013_thompson_chidinma.pdf
Size:
2.16 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name:
license.txt
Size:
2.65 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description: