Wildrose MLA calls for oilsands advisory panellist to be sacked

The Wildrose is calling for the removal of another member of the NDP government’s oilsands advisory group, this time over opposition to a pipeline backed by Premier Rachel Notley.

In question period Thursday, Wildrose MLA Don MacIntyre pointed to a fundraising email sent this week by Karen Mahon, national director of STAND, formerly known as Forest-Ethics Advocacy.

In the message, Mahon asks for donations to help fight Kinder Morgan’s planned expansion of its Trans Mountain oilsands pipeline to the British Columbia coast, which she said “will almost certainly lead to a devastating oil spill that no amount of money will be able to clean.”

“Why on Earth did this government appoint this person to this panel, and when will Ms. Mahon be shown the door,” the Opposition’s electricity and renewables critic demanded.

Mahon is one of the members of a panel that includes both energy industry and environmental representatives that was appointed by the government to provide advice on its plan to cap oilsands emissions.

Wildrose has previously called for the firing of panel co-chair Tzeporah Berman for questioning the need for new pipelines and for describing the area around Fort McMurray as being akin to Mordor.

Notley’s NDP government has been a strong supporter of the Trans Mountain pipeline, with Alberta seeking a new oilsands pipeline to tidewater to open new markets.

But she shrugged off the suggestion Mahon should be canned.

“Those people were put in place to give us advice on how to move toward the cap on emissions. They were not put in place to give us advice, or to do anything else, with respect to pipelines. So what they do on that matter doesn’t really matter,” she said in the legislature.

Notley said the government is committed to earning social licence for new pipelines by bringing together all sides on the energy and environment debate.