Bill 35, the proposed All-Season Resorts Act, goes to THIRD READING this Wednesday, December 4:

And we need your help to stop it.

The Government of Alberta is speeding Bill 35 through the legislative process, but we have grave concerns about the implications of the proposed Act and urge you to take action TODAY.

Bill 35, or the All-Season Resorts Act, exempts tourism development in ‘all-season resort zones’ from the normal environmental land-use planning, review and approval processes applied to all other public land use activities, circumventing and undermining the Alberta Land Stewardship Act (ALSA) and the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act (EPA).

Alarmingly, Bill 35 also makes it clear that the Minister of Tourism and Sport has the power to de-list and remove protected area designations in order to create all-season resort zones.

This is an unprecedented transfer of land management powers to the Ministry of Tourism and Sport, which has never acted as a land manager, having neither the scope, experience, nor the capacity to do so.

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Here's the nitty-gritty about why Bill 35 must NOT become law:

1. The Bill exempts tourism development in all season resort areas from the normal environmental planning, reviewing, and permitting processes applied to other public land use activities, requiring no consultation from Indigenous Peoples, or affected communities.

2. It means that nothing is sacred (or safe). Protected areas — including Alberta Parks — can lose their designation. Areas within a protected area can be delisted to become part of an ASR.

3. Projects that fall within the definition of an ASR will no longer be subject to review by the Natural Resources Conservation Board, which is the body responsible for public interest reviews of major natural resource projects.

4. Bill 35 will remove authority from Alberta Environment and Protected Areas, allowing the Minister of Tourism and Sport to become the decision maker on lands proposed as an ASR and alter a regional plan without ANY consultation or reporting. The Minister, and the Ministry, have no experience or expertise in land-use planning.

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From Nigel Bankes, Emeritus Professor of Law at the University of Calgary:

"Bill 35, the All Season Resorts Act, is deeply problematic for at least three reasons. First, it is not clear why we need a special legal regime for all season resorts (ASRs), and especially a regime like this that seeks to centralize and streamline the review, permitting and approval of ASRs. In other words what is the problem that Bill 35 is seeking to resolve and who is lobbying for it?

Why do ASRs need a single-window review process and how will such a process protect environmental and ecological values?

Second, Bill 35 effectively insulates ASRs from public review by exempting such projects from review by the Natural Resources Conservation Board. The Bill also provides the Minister with ability to exempt an ASR from compliance with a regional plan adopted under the Alberta Land Stewardship Act by amending that plan without any need for consultation and reporting, thereby weakening Alberta’s landscape level planning processes without any explanation.

Again, why do ASRs need or merit these special rules?

And third, while public lands currently within a protected area may not be designated as an ASR, the Bill makes it quite clear that areas may be removed from a protected area and once removed they may then be designated as an ASR area with any resort development proposal subject to all of the expedited review processes contemplated by the Bill."

Taking further action:

If you've already sent a letter, please consider sharing this email and action with family, friends, and your personal and professional networks.

If you have the time and resources, you can also consider calling your elected officials to let them know that you do NOT want to see Bill 35 become law this Wednesday.

Every action matters.

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