EDMONTON, AB (August 31, 2011): Land and business owners in the Lower Athabasca region will be directly managed by a government agent if they do not operate within the limits set out in the Lower Athabasca Regional Plan, the Wildrose Caucus revealed today.

“Albertans have always accepted that there’s a role for the province in setting broad limits for a region in terms of water use or air emissions, but I'm shocked at how much further this document goes,” said Paul Hinman, Wildrose SRD Critic. “It explicitly mentions managing activities and that someone from the minister’s office will develop a legally-binding plan for you to follow if they don’t like what you’re doing.  This sounds like something straight out of a Soviet handbook.”

Sections 26 and 33 of the regulations state that if a Minister thinks you have gone afoul of the plan, even if it is something you have a licence for, “an appropriate official or officials in the Designated Minister’s government department must initiate a management response consistent with the framework.”

“What this means for landowners in the LARP-area is their operations are no longer their own,” said Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith. “They will do what the government tells them to do. And if they aren't doing it right, even if that’s the way they’ve always done it, the government is going to send in a bureaucrat to show them how it is to be done.”

“This is not the Alberta way,” said Hinman continued. “Albertans want government to set the rules, and then get out of the way. Our idea of land use planning is to set the limits up front and then let businesses, landowners and municipalities manage how they are going stay within the limits.  Any time the government starts telling people how to do things, we're going down the wrong path.”

LARP is just the first of seven regional land-use plans devised under the Land-Use Framework, which gives cabinet the authority to rescind grazing permits, water rights, oil sands leases, forest management agreements, among other statutory consents.

In April, the Wildrose Caucus released their alternative approach Six Steps to True Regional Planning.

The Wildrose Caucus stands for free enterprise, less government, increased personal freedom and democracy.

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For further information or to arrange an interview, media are invited to contact:

Brock Harrison

Director of Communications, Wildrose Caucus

Ph: 780-399-2890