CONSTITUTIONAL VALIDITY OF PROVINCIAL OIL AND GAS LEGISLATION

Abstract

The author notes that the nature of the oil and gas industry creates particular challenges in terms of legislative drafting and evaluates how successful the provinces have been in meeting these challenges. The article begins with a review of the history of the oil and gas industry in Canada and an overview of current provincial statutes, with particular attention paid to those emanating from Alberta. From there, the author examines the potential constitutional challenges to provincial legislation by virtue of the trade and commerce power, the Dominion’s control over interconnecting works and undertakings, and finally the doctrine of paramountcy, predicting that much of the legislation will be successfully challenged in coming years. The correlating need for the Dominion to fill resulting legislative gaps is stressed, given that many of the functions served by the provincial legislation such as prorationing and gas export controls are vital to the proper functioning of the industry.