Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 21, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba Read the Winter issue at: winnipegfreepress.com/fp-features Available in your Free Press (subscribers) on March 29 and at Manitoba Liquor Marts - while supplies last! SPRING 2025 ISSUE OF DON’T MISS THE COMING SOON! A8 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM NEWS I CANADA TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2025 Alberta government lifts coal-mining moratorium E DMONTON — Alberta’s govern- ment has quietly rescinded its moratorium on new coal explor- ation and development in the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. It’s a move critics say means the province has declared open season on renewed coal mining. In a letter to the Alberta Energy Regulator posted to its website Monday, Energy Minister Brian Jean said lifting a 2022 moratorium will “reduce regula- tory confusion” around coal mining. Jean also directed the regulator to give “due consideration” to the govern- ment’s new policy intention, first an- nounced in December. Under that plan, the government said it will require companies to show how they can pre- vent toxic selenium from leaching into watersheds. However, that policy, led by industry consultations, has yet to be fully developed or implemented. The end of the moratorium comes as five coal companies are taking the Alberta government to court, seeking more than a combined $15 billion in lost revenues and sunk costs that they say they’re owed as a result of the govern- ment’s back-and-forth policy manoeuv- res. They’re expected to appear in court in the spring. Concerns about coal mining peaked in 2020, when the province announced it would remove rules that had protect- ed the eastern slopes of the Rockies from open-pit coal mining since 1976 and began issuing leases. After a deluge of public pushback, the United Conservative Party government reinstated the protections and stopped selling exploration leases. The 1976 coal policy remains in ef- fect, restricting all exploration and de- velopment on Category 1 lands, which include parks, wilderness areas and wildlife sanctuaries. Nigel Bankes, professor emeritus of law at the University of Calgary, said other than those lands, “it’s open sea- son” for coal development in areas cur- rently leased. He also said it appears the govern- ment made the move to kill the legal action against it. “It’s very likely it knocks the foundation out from those cases,” said Bankes in an interview. He said it was bad decision-making that put the province in a vulnerable legal position in the first place, but said they have options. “(They could) pass a statute saying, ‘We are not paying compensation,’” said Bankes. He said Albertans should be concerned about renewed mining, par- ticularly those who live downstream of potential projects. “People thought we put coal to bed,” he said. “What Albertans are learning is that’s actually not what this govern- ment thinks.” Jean’s office did not immediately pro- vide comment to The Canadian Press. The Canadian Parks and Wilder- ness Society’s Alberta chapter said the change means new coal mine explor- ation and development on more than 1,880 square kilometres of leases could begin as early as the spring. The move also comes as a contentious mine project being proposed in the Crowsnest Pass by Northback Holdings progresses through the regulatory ap- proval process. The wilderness society said it means the Grassy Mountain pro- ject can proceed without a big regula- tory hurdle. The society said companies are al- ready being informed that their explor- ation permits are reactivated. Kennedy Halvorson, a conservation- ist with the Alberta Wilderness Asso- ciation, said the government’s latest move is premature, as the government had said it was in the process of devel- oping its new coal policy. “It opens up a lot of lands for explor- ation and development that have been protected in the last couple years while the government was meant to be seek- ing clarity on how they move forward with this industry,” she said. “It seems like all of these companies can now pick up kind of exactly where they ended off in that process and start to push their applications through the regulatory process before we have an- swers.” Opposition NDP environment critic Sarah Elmeligi said the UCP is opening the eastern slopes for coal mining and development, while also creating con- fusion and uncertainty. She said the UCP’s policy shifts cre- ated the opportunity for coal-mining companies to expect compensation, and now the government is telling them the moratorium was just a pause. “But by doing that, they’re breaking the promise they made to Albertans that they would protect the eastern slopes,” Elmeligi said. — The Canadian Press JACK FARRELL AND LISA JOHNSON JEFF MCINTOSH / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Grassy Mountain (peak to left) and the Grassy Mountain coal project north of Blairmore, Alta. Privacy czar ‘concerned’ about cybersecurity breach involving student info THE federal privacy watchdog says he’s “concerned” about a cybersecurity breach involving a student informa- tion system used across Canada, as the country’s largest school board revealed the scope of the data that may have been stolen last month. The Toronto District School Board told parents and guardians in an email Monday that its students’ birthdays, addresses, health card numbers, emer- gency contacts and some medical in- formation stored since September 2017 may have been included in the data breach involving the PowerSchool plat- form. Certain “historical student informa- tion” — including health card numbers and home addresses — from Septem- ber 1985 through August 2017 was also compromised, the school board said. Privacy commissioner Philippe Du- fresne said in a statement on Monday that his office is in touch with the U.S.- based PowerSchool, which provides the affected software to schools across North America. “I am concerned about the potential impact that an incident such as this one may have on the personal information of students across the country,” he said. Earlier this month, PowerSchool told school boards in Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Alberta and elsewhere that it had experienced a data breach between Dec. 22 and 28. At the time, the company said the cybersecurity incident was “contained” and that it had taken steps to prevent further unauthorized access or misuse of the affected data. The Toronto District School Board said Monday that PowerSchool has “received confirmation that the data acquired by the unauthorized user was deleted” and that the information was not posted online. “To be clear, TDSB does not store any social insurance numbers, finan- cial or banking information in the Pow- erSchool Student Information System, so that information was not affected in any way,” it said in the email to parents. Nova Scotia’s Education Department has previously said that the breach could have a financial impact on some former and current teachers and staff, since some social insurance numbers collected before 2010 were included in the stolen data. The federal privacy czar said his of- fice is seeking more information about the breach and will also inform Power- School about reporting requirements under Canada’s privacy legislation. “This will allow us to convey our ex- pectations to the company regarding their response to the breach and to de- termine next steps,” Dufresne said. “Championing the privacy rights of children is one of my strategic prior- ities as children’s personal information is particularly sensitive.” PowerSchool has said it is providing services to customers as usual as it con- tinues to investigate. — The Canadian Press SONJA PUZIC Move involves development in eastern slopes of Rocky Mountains ;