On April 3, 2019, Charles (Chuck) Birchall will be speaking at the 2019 Nunavut Mining Symposium in Iqaluit, Nunavut.
Chuck's presentation is titled: Supreme Court Redwater Decision: Implications for the North.
A recent Supreme Court of Canada decision will be relevant for mining in Canada’s North. This presentation will review the recent Supreme Court of Canada decision, Orphan Well Association v Grant Thornton Ltd., and its potential implications for extraction industries in the north.
Redwater Energy Corporation held a number of licenses for oil and gas wells, and was obligated by Alberta provincial law, to undertake closure and reclamation obligations for those oil and gas assets. A bankruptcy order was issued against Redwater Energy Corporation. Grant Thornton, the receiver and trustee, sought to abandon the majority of Redwater’s oil and gas licences because the closure obligations exceeded the value of the licences. The Alberta Energy Regulator ordered Grant Thornton to comply with the closure and reclamation obligations. The matter was litigated all the way to the Supreme Court which held that the Alberta Energy Regulator could require Grant Thornton to comply with Redwater’s end-of-life obligations.
This presentation will explore the significance of the Redwater on:
- mine closure obligations in a case of bankruptcy of the operator
- financial assurance required by Crown and Inuit land owners in these circumstances.
For more information on the conference and to register, please click here.