Standing at the ERCB without an interest in land, but “no costs for you!”

Standing at the ERCB without an interest in land, but “no costs for you!”

Click on the link above to read an article by Assistant Professor Shaun Fluker of the University of Calgary, Faculty of Law about participation rights before the Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB):

Standing at the ERCB without an interest in land, but “no costs for you!”

          Written by: Shaun Fluker

Case considered: Freehold Petroleum and Natural Gas Owners Association v. Alberta (Energy Resources Conservation Board), 2010 ABCA 125

In Freehold Petroleum and Natural Gas Owners Association, Madam Justice Elizabeth McFayden dismisses an application for leave to appeal an Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) hearing costs decision that relates to an earlier ERCB decision concerning a mineral lease dispute. This Court of Appeal decision and the underlying ERCB decisions are noteworthy to me for two reasons: (1) the ERCB granted full hearing participation rights to the Freehold Petroleum and Natural Gas Owners Association (the Freehold Owners Association) despite the fact it does not have an interest in land; and (2) the Court of Appeal defers to the ERCB on what I consider to be an unreasonable exercise of its discretion on the costs matter. I will comment on each of these points in turn after briefly summarizing the facts. [...]