Lawyer Devon Page, Ecojustice Canada Executive Director, pauses during a news conference in Vancouver, B.C., on Wednesday September 26, 2012. An environmental law firm is asking a court to strike down Alberta’s inquiry into the role of foreign money financing the activities of charities opposing the oilsands. In its application, Vancouver-based Ecojustice claims the province’s inquiry into what it calls anti-Alberta activities is politically motivated, prejudges its conclusions and is outside provincial jurisdiction. READ MORE: Alberta inquiry into oil and gas foes could face legal challenge from Ecojustice The documents also alleges the inquiry’s commissioner, Steve Allan, was a donor to the leadership campaign of Alberta’s justice minister, who appointed him to the job. Ecojustice lawyer Devon Page says the inquiry is an example of a government trying to use a judicial process to stifle opinions it doesn’t like. The application asks Calgary Court of Queen’s Bench to quash the government order that created the inquiry. Allan has been interviewing witnesses as part of the $2-million probe, called the “ Public Inquiry Into Funding of Anti-Alberta Energy Campaigns .” Last week, a prominent Edmonton community charity expressed similar reservations about the inquiry. In a 174-page letter to Allan, the […]
