“Alberta’s War Room” and the “Steve Allan Inquiry”: Worth the Money or Millions Wasted?

After Jason Kenney became Premier of Alberta on April 30, 2019, he followed through on his campaign promise and set in motion the “energy war room” or the Canadian Energy Centre CEC) as it was named when launched in Dec 2019. The purpose of the $30 million per year CEC was to fight back campaigns against Alberta’s Oil Sands etc. that, according to some sources, were funded by foreign interest money supporting several Environmental Non-government Organizations (ENGOs) Tar Sands Campaign.

Steve Allan was commissioned in July 2019 at the cost of $2.5 million to lead a provincial/public inquiry into "foreign-funded special interests" and their campaigns to stop oil sands development. Later, and when it became clear that the July 2, 2020 final report deadline would be missed, Alberta's energy minister added $1 million to the inquiry's budget and pushed back the deadline for Allan's final report, first to Oct 30, then to Jan 30 and finally to May 31, 2021.

As Alberta poured more time and resources into this inquiry, several amendments to its scope and scale was made, which may limit what info the inquiry is expected to yield. The speaker, who has followed this inquiry closely, will narrate the nuanced details and, barring another delay, comment on the final report.

Speaker: Markham Hislop

Markham Hislop is an energy journalist and publisher of Energi News (formerly North American Energy News). Hislop uses a technology adoption model of his own design to analyze and report upon all the facets of the energy industry, from oil and gas to EVs and renewables.

Over the past 5 years, Hislop has probably reported about the Energy Transition more than any other North American journalist. His work has been published in Canadian Business, Alberta Oil Magazine, Hart Energy Publications, World Oil, Vancouver Magazine, and other publications. Hislop’s most recent book is The New Alberta Advantage: Technology, Policy, and the Future of the Oil Sands.

Date and time: Thursday, June 3, 2021 at 10 am MST

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