Alberta Gov Running $3.5 Million "Study" Into How "Foreign Interests" Oppose The Oil & Gas Industry
The commissioner of Alberta's inquiry into the funding of oil and gas industry critics says a deadline extension will allow more time for the inquiry to get responses from the people it names. The inquiry headed by Steve Allan was to have completed its report by Sunday, but the United Conservative government released an order-in-council on Friday night amending the inquiry's deadline to May 31.
Allan says in a written statement that it was always the inquiry's intention to give an opportunity for response to people "who may be subject to a finding of misconduct or the subject of a materially adverse factual finding."
Allan says the inquiry has done a "detailed review of voluminous material" covering about 20 years, which he says has been made harder by the COVID-19 pandemic and public health advisories. He says that's caused delays, and notes that extension requests for public inquiries aren't unusual.
Premier Jason Kenney and his government contend that foreign interests have long been bankrolling campaigns against Canadian fossil fuel development, and note that the original deadline for the report was July 2020.
EDIT
https://www.nationalobserver.com/2021/01/31/news/alberta-oil-inquiry-head-seeks-responses-those-he-named-misconduct
