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Swan Hills Treatment Centre

Ms Blakeman: Thanks very much, Mr. Speaker. Albertans have learned two things since the fall session: one, that even large companies like Nortel fail and, two, this government consistently fails to require that enough money is held in reclamation funds to pay for the cost of the cleanup. My questions are to the Minister of Environment. Given the example of the Swan Hills waste treatment plant costing $71 million to clean up, double the amount set aside, what action is the government taking to boost other reclamation funding to realistic levels so that the cost of future cleanups are covered and not borne by the taxpayer?

Mr. Renner: Mr. Speaker, it’s important to consider when you look at reclamation not only the cost of the actual reclamation itself but the requirement that the taxpayer be responsible for the entire costs should it be necessary. The member is pointing out a worst-case scenario, where we have a situation where the taxpayer is ultimately responsible, but at the same time there are a number of other sites throughout the province that remain and will continue to be the responsibility of the owner of those sites, and in those cases it’s a different situation.

The Speaker: The hon. member.

Ms Blakeman: Thank you. Back to the same minister. Well, given that if a company, whether it’s an oil sands developer, a coal mine, or a gravel pit, collapses, fails, goes bankrupt, goes under, their promissory note isn’t worth very much, why doesn’t the government ensure that enough cash is held so that any liability for cleanup does not revert back to the public? An IOU from a failed company is worth nothing, and it all defaults back to the taxpayer.

Mr. Renner: Well, Mr. Speaker, it’s like everything else that we do in Environment: it’s a balancing act. It is necessary for us to hold security, and we do hold security. We hold a significant amount of security, whether it be in cash or whether it be in irrevocable lines of credit that are backed up by banks. We have been working with industry to ensure that that level that we hold is appropriate and is adequate, and I can assure the member that there are ongoing discussions as we speak on ways that we can improve that program.

The Speaker: The hon. member.

Ms Blakeman: Thank you very much. Back to the same minister. The annual report of the security fund states that for all the oil sands $645 million is held for reclamation, all in the form of guaranties, little IOUs, pieces of paper. Is the government telling us that these IOUs are sufficient to cover the cost of cleanup for the entire oil sands? Really, Mr. Minister?

Mr. Renner: Mr. Speaker, let’s be clear. These are not IOUs. These are irrevocable lines of credit. These are notes that the province holds that are secured by the bank, not by the individual companies. To answer the member’s question, we believe that we hold adequate security to ensure that we protect the public in case of long-term disaster from a financial perspective.