Solar power not part of UCP’s ‘rights’ legislation

By Medicine Hat News on November 5, 2024.

@MedicineHatNews

The proposal to expand property rights in Alberta would not include a debate about whether landowners have the express right to install green energy systems on their homes or rural parcels. Debate in parliament Wednesday on amending the Alberta Charter of Rights began with a proposed amendment by NDP parliamentary leader and justice critic Irfan Sabir, who argued that the ability to use property could extend the ability to use it to generate income from solar energy production. “The government shouldn’t be telling them whether they can grow wheat or canola,” Sabir said. “These landowners should be able to do whatever they see fit, including the ability to have and benefit from a solar system on their property if they so choose, the ability to enjoy their property, the ability to control what they can do with their property, and the ability to exclude government interference with their property rights.” But that came to naught, with Utilities and Economy Minister Nathan Neudorf arguing that the new policy, which puts proposed green energy projects through an “agriculture first” lens, is reasonable, “This is about ensuring that land in Alberta is available for food production for future generations,” Neudorf said. “It is an affordability measure as well as a sustainability measure,” he said, adding that he believed the bill was sufficient to incentivize property owners in cases of allocation and compensation. “The government also has a responsibility to ensure that land has the greatest opportunity to be used in as many beneficial ways as possible in the future; especially if growing food is one of them, that’s my view.” On the other hand, Sabir told the legislature that the government has long promised to support rural landowners in the case of surface rights agreements and municipal property taxes owed by oil companies, but instead farms and ranchers are looking to generate alternative income. “Since the government is defending property rights and acting like an advocate, why does it think it can unilaterally go into rural Alberta and tell these farmers and landowners what they can do with their land?” Sabir said. , halted approvals of wind and solar projects to develop new assessment process for impact on agricultural productivity and “landscapes” Many projects have been approved since the moratorium was lifted, but others, including those near Brooks and Westlock, have been rejected due to agricultural benefit. 12
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