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The hypothesis, now being taken as fact by Alberta Premier Jason Kenney and his government, is that nefarious foreign billionaires are trying to landlock Alberta's oil wealth by funding environmental activist groups.

Those groups are spreading false information about the oil sands in order to stymie the province's efforts to build pipelines to markets so Alberta can get a decent price for its resources.

In the interests of shining a light on this conspiracy, and possibly cutting off Canadian funding and charitable status to these environmentalist proxies, Kenney has announced a public inquiry  into the anti-Alberta energy campaigns.

The inquiry's website doesn't for a moment include a suggestion that the whole conspiracy theory should be challenged, although critics are happy to take a stab at debunking the whole foreign influence scenario.

The inquiry's mandate has already raised plenty of eyebrows thanks to its pre-ordained conclusion, but the rest of the details unfolding on this $2.5 million taxpayer funded debacle should be giving Albertans pause.

Kenney likes to say he wants to inject transparency into the funding of anti-oil sand activist groups.  But the inquiry is about as opaque as it could possibly be.  The public inquiry is not designated a "public body" so it isn't subject to freedom of information requests.

An FAQ section of the website includes the question of whether the inquiry commissioner, forensic accountant Steve Allan, will be answering media questions.  "There is very little the Commissioner can share with the media at this time that is not contained on this website.  The website will be updated whenever the Commissioner has information that can be shared with the public."

So that's a hard no.

The commissioner can compel witnesses within the provincial borders to testify.  Oh and members of the public can call a number if they have information that would be useful to the inquiry.  The term "snitch line" sprouted instantaneously on social media when that was announced.

The commissioner has to issue a report by next June but the government can sit on it for another three months before releasing it to the public.

Could this whole inquiry backfire on the Kenney government?  Oh yes.  Already Amnesty International has fired off a letter to Kenney saying the exercise is an affront to human rights.  That's a pretty major stretch, and Kenney lost no provincial support by laughing it off.  But the implications of the inquiry: the "snitch line", the lack of accountability for a taxpayer funded initiative, the shocking lack of open-mindedness in the whole exercise, has to leave Albertans wondering what the end game is for the government.

Albertans are aggrieved over the seemingly endless delays in getting a pipeline.  They are frustrated by the low price Alberta oil commands.  The province is labouring under uncharacteristically high unemployment rates.  For a province that has generally had the highest incomes in the country, lowest tax rates, and a robust economy for decades, the current slide has been a shock.

But the idea that the province's woes are all the result of a mysterious cabal of bad actors outside Alberta's borders telling lies about the oil sands is not helpful and syphons off provincial energies that could be better used on other fronts.

The price of Alberta oil isn't only about access.  It costs more to get oil sands out of the ground than free flowing light crude.  The climate change protesters who want to keep the oil in the ground aren't the only factor slowing the progress of pipelines.  The courts have fixed on the lack of federal consultation with First Nations as the bigger ongoing impediment.

The underlying assumption of Kenney's inquiry is that Albertans are single-minded in their support of oil sand development and those who aren't are clearly misled.  Any Albertan who has hefted a protest sign as an anti-oil development rally must be a willing dupe of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.

And the oil patch itself, replete as it may be with wealthy (often foreign-owned or heavily invested) multinational corporations, is a poor victim of a handful of charitable foundations from the U.S.

Ultimately at some point taxpayers need to ask, is this what we elected the UCP to do?  Fighting for the oilpatch is a natural role for an Alberta government.  Launching court challenges and interventions, marketing out brand of ethical oil across the country and internationally and challenging false statements when they turn up in news or social media all seem pretty legit.

But the Spanish Inquisition-style secretive inquiry Kenney has launched feels wrong in a society that prizes free speech and the right to hold dissenting views.

The views, opinions and positions expressed by columnists and contributors are the author’s alone. They do not inherently or expressly reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of our publication.


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The views, opinions and positions expressed by columnists and contributors are the author’s alone. They do not inherently or expressly reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of our publication.