'Lands belong to all of us': Conflict over Jason Kenney's proposed Crown land sales in Peace Country
Emma Graney
In elected in 2019, UCP Leader Jason Kenney says he plans to sell off swaths of Crown land in the Peace Country.	Konrad Junikiewicz / Peace River Record-Gazette
A United Conservative plan to sell off Crown land in the Peace Country should it win the 2019 election is being welcomed by the local municipality, but environmentalists aren't so impressed.
UCP Leader Jason Kenney told the Rural Municipalities of Alberta conference last week he's considering a land sell-off similar to a program under former premier Ed Stelmach.
Mackenzie County Reeve Josh Knelsen told Postmedia the program dating back to the early 2010s created a significant economic and job creation boost for the region.
Additional land also meant young families didn't have to leave, he said — a boon for an area Statistics Canada pegs as the youngest in the nation, with the highest percentage of children of any region.
Mackenzie County is also home to half of Alberta's organic certified farmers, Knelsen said, and he sees this as an opportunity to be leaders in sustainable agricultural.
The land in question
The land at the heart of the plan is in Mackenzie County. Former sales comprised close to 120,000 acres in blocks spanning across the county, from just north of Carcajou northeast to Wilson Prairie, around the La Crete area. Another pocket lies between Tall Tree North and Beaver Ranch.
A map of the Crown land sales in Mackenzie County in a program under former premier Ed Stelmach. Courtesy of Mackenzie County.
Copies of the Alberta Gazette from 2010 through 2014 list a series of land auctions in the county, each subject to a reserve bid with land sold on an "as is, where is" basis. Ownership of any unsold parcels could then go to the county.
The Gazette doesn't record the auction outcomes, but Mackenzie County council meeting minutes for one of the parcels sold in 2014 showed a reserve bid of $52,700.
Crown land sales floated with NDP
Environment Minister Shannon Phillips said Mackenzie County contacted her a couple of years ago about the possibility of more land sales.
"We said, 'OK, let's undertake the requisite number of consultations,'" Phillips said.
"There's all kinds of processes that work alongside the public land process. There are also other disposition holders that have to be consulted."
Knelsen said his council has been advocating for more agriculture land for 20 years. Still, he said, he realizes there are "competing interests and rights to Crown lands, and respects that the process takes time to allow for the appropriate conversations to take place."
Phillips said the local Dene Tha First Nation is "very opposed to moving forward with" more land sales. Fred Didzena, director of the Dene Tha's lands department, told Postmedia via email he was unable to comment on the plan at this time.
'These lands belong to all of us'
Carolyn Campbell, a conservation specialist with the Alberta Wilderness Association, has serious misgivings about selling more public land to private interests.
Crown land is critical to biodiversity, she said, whether it's forest, grass or wetlands.
She's also worried about the process, given that Alberta doesn't have a history of transparency when it comes to land sales.
"The public should be involved and consulted. After all, these lands belong to all of us. Decisions about them need to be made for the long term," she said.
"I can sympathize with needing to find ways to stimulate the economy, but we have not put in place in Alberta good policies and laws to safeguard our vital … public lands."
egraney@postmedia.com
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