ᓇᓇᑕᐏᑭᐦᒋᑫᐏᐣ · ᐊᓯᒋᒥᑐᐏᓂᐠ 6, 7, 8 · ᐱᒥᐦᑲᐣ ᐁᑯ ᑳᐱᐦᑲᐣ
[cr] An interactive investigation into the mechanics of regulatory capture, dereliction, and the wells Canada can no longer afford to clean up — on land the Crown promised to share.
ᐊᐍᓇ ᐅᑦ ᐊᐢᑭᐦᐠ ᐆᒪ ᐁ ᐃᔮᐤ
[cr] The wells in this investigation are overwhelmingly on Indigenous land.
[cr] The treaties are not dead letters.
[cr] When "taxpayers pay for cleanup" gets said in the rest of this piece, remember whose taxpayers, and whose land.
[cr] Affected Nations named in this investigation
[cr] More than three decades ago, Canadian regulators were warned...
[cr] Canada's oil patch is increasingly split...
ᐊᐢᑭᐦᐠ ᐅᐦᒋ ᐯᐦᑕᑯᓯᐏᓇ
“Too many oil and gas companies have simply walked away from their obligation to remediate their well sites on First Nation lands.”
[cr] On the 2020 federal Site Rehabilitation Program and its failure to reach wells on First Nations land.
[cr] Source: CBC News — First Nations and the Site Rehabilitation Program“More than 88 percent of Beaver Lake Cree Nation traditional territory has been taken up for industrial development — over 35,000 oil and gas sites, 21,700 kilometres of seismic lines, and 4,028 kilometres of pipeline on land the Crown promised to share.”
[cr] BLCN has pursued a constitutional challenge against Alberta and Canada.
[cr] Source: Beaver Lake Cree Nation — Defend the Treaties campaign“Alberta returned $137 million in federal orphan well cleanup funds unspent, while at least 900 wells on First Nations land still qualified for cleanup.”
[cr] Of the $1.72 billion federal Site Rehabilitation Program, $85 million was allocated for First Nations cleanup.
[cr] Source: CBC News — Alberta gives back $137M to Ottawa in unspent funds to clean up inactive wells[cr] Flow-through shares, royalty holidays, federal incentives. Lock in profits while the well is productive. The public helped pay to put the hole in the ground; the public will also pay to fill it back in.
[cr] KNOWLEDGE CHECK
[cr] Roughly what share of oil & gas capital costs has been offset by subsidies?
[cr] Numbered Alberta LPs and corporations. Each layer is a firewall between personal wealth and environmental liability.
[cr] KNOWLEDGE CHECK
[cr] What type of corporation holds well licences as a liability firewall?
[cr] Off to scavenger companies operating on thin margins. Cleanup obligations transfer with the deed.
[cr] KNOWLEDGE CHECK
[cr] When a declining well is sold, who is legally responsible for cleanup?
[cr] Alberta rules allow wells to sit idle for years with no plugging requirement.
[cr] KNOWLEDGE CHECK
[cr] How many tonnes of CO₂-equivalent do inactive wells emit per year?
[cr] Municipal taxes: $173M unpaid in Alberta in 2019 alone.
[cr] KNOWLEDGE CHECK
[cr] How much did taxpayers pay landowners in 2024 for unpaid rent?
[cr] If they push too hard, warn that enforcement will tip you into insolvency.
[cr] KNOWLEDGE CHECK
[cr] What does the regulator do when threatened with bankruptcy?
[cr] File under Canada's Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. Forfeit the security deposit.
[cr] KNOWLEDGE CHECK
[cr] What percentage of cleanup costs are covered by security bonds?
[cr] The OWA, funded by a levy on the remaining industry, takes over.
[cr] KNOWLEDGE CHECK
[cr] When will the OWA complete cleanup of its inventory?
ᐊᑭᐦᒋᑫᐏᓇ
01 — [cr] The well inventory
01
[cr] Active wells are at their lowest share in recorded Alberta history.
02
[cr] Alberta orphan wells: 700 in 2010 to 8,600+ by 2020.
03
[cr] Industry has posted $237M in security bonds.
04
[cr] Of the $1.7B COVID-era federal cleanup program, roughly half went to viable companies.
ᑲᑭᐢᑭᓄᐗᐦᐊᒧᐗᐠ
[cr] Sequoia Resources was a natural gas producer operating hundreds of wells across central Alberta.
[cr] The Orphan Well Association absorbed the Sequoia inventory on top of an already-growing backlog.
“The Sequoia impact is huge. I still think it might be a little bigger than I expected.”
[cr] AI-read from [cr] source [cr] — not the speaker's actual voice.
ᓲᓂᔮᐤ ᐗᐢᑲᐏᐏᐣ
[cr] Saskatchewan has no donation limits.
Elections Saskatchewan
[cr] Oil & gas companies can donate from outside the province.
Progress Alberta / CBC
[cr] Political donations get a 75% tax credit on the first $400.
SK Political Contributions Tax Credit Act
[cr] The SK Party has taken in 46% of all donations from corporations since 2006.
Press Progress
[cr] Since 2006: $3M+ from out-of-province corporate donors.
Progress Alberta
[cr] Cenovus donated $68,108; Encana $50,557; Crescent Point $126,924.
Elections Saskatchewan records
[cr] Saskatchewan is the only province with no cap on corporate political donations.
U of S Graduate School of Public Policy
[cr] TAX CREDIT CALCULATOR
[cr] Saskatchewan gives a tax credit on political donations.
[cr] SK Political Contributions Tax Credit Act: 75% on first $400, 50% on $400–750, 33% on $750–1,275. Max $650/yr.
“Saskatchewan is one of the worst — if not the worst — in Canada for its political finance system.”
[cr] AI-read from [cr] source [cr] — not the speaker's actual voice.
[cr] The playbook doesn't work without a sympathetic regulator.
ᑫᑯ ᑲ ᐃᐢᐸᓂᐠ ᑕ ᐊᐦᒋᐸᓂᐠ
[cr] Alberta's proposed Mature Asset Strategy is what the province calls its plan.
[cr] What would actually work is not mysterious.
[cr] None of this is radical.
ᑫᑯ ᑲ ᑭ ᑐᑕᒪᐣ
“ᒪᓯᓇᐦᐃᑲᐣ: ᑖᓂᓯ ᑲᓇᑕ ᐊᐢᑭᐦᐠ ᐊᓯᒋᒥᑐᐏᓂᐠ ᐁ ᐱᒥᐦᑲᐣ ᐊᐱᐦᑖᐃᑯᐠ ᐁ ᓇᑲᑕᐦᒃ ᒥᓕᔭᓐᔅ ᐁ ᐊᐦᒋᐦᐃᑯᐠ”
[cr] Every fact on this page was reported by someone.