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The Alberta government is withholding the results of another public survey, this one on the answers to its engagement on renewable energy development on agricultural land.

The survey was conducted online between July 24 and Aug. 14.

It followed the provincial government’s plan announced last Feb. 28 to introduce a series of new restrictions on future pursuits of wind and solar projects that come following a moratorium on such developments announced in August 2023.

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“The government committed to advance policy, legislation and regulatory changes to support an ‘agriculture first’ approach to renewable energy development before the end of 2024,” the preamble to the survey notes.

“This means Alberta will no longer permit utility-scale renewable energy development on the best agricultural lands, unless crop and/or livestock production can coexist alongside the development. Criteria used to establish agricultural land suitability will minimize risk to Alberta’s privately owned native grasslands and ensure agricultural land (including irrigable and productive agricultural land) remains available to safeguard sustainable food production now and in the future.”

Postmedia requested the results of the survey soon after it closed last August. It has appealed a decision to withhold the information to the province’s privacy commissioner.

On Oct. 29, the agriculture and irrigation ministry provided 126 pages of results, followed by an additional 124 pages on Nov. 12, all of which were entirely redacted.

In withholding the information, the ministry cited legislative exemptions around third-party information, “reveal(ing) the substance of deliberations of the executive council,” and section 24 (1) of the relevant act which exempts “advice, proposals, recommendations, analyses or policy options.”

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The following section explicitly excludes survey data from that exemption. Postmedia’s request did not seek third-party information or the substance of cabinet debates.

The survey asked respondents if they were one of the following — agricultural landowner, Métis settlement representative, irrigation district representative, municipal representative (including special areas), renewable energy company, or other, with questions varying depending on the response.

Selecting the ‘other’ option in response to that question ended the survey.

“Your input will be used to determine criteria to identify the suitability of agricultural land for renewable energy development,” the survey stated, asking respondents to watch a 15-minute webinar before answering the questions that followed.

The subsequent questions asked how much agricultural land a respondent owned, ranging from less than 320 acres up to 5,000 acres.

Questions that followed asked where that land was, and if that land was home to any “utility-scale renewable energy developments.”

The 34-question survey included multiple-choice and long-form questions that centred around how agriculture, grasslands, and livestock development could co-exist with sources of renewable energy sources like solar or wind power.

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The answers to those questions remain unavailable to the public with the survey’s website saying results remain under review.

Last week, Service Alberta Minister Dale Nally announced the province’s plan to overhaul provincial access to information rules. The proposed changes would not affect the survey exemption, according to department staff.

There appears to be little consensus among government departments on how the survey exemption is to be applied.

The municipal affairs ministry twice released both summary data and copies of individual responses to its survey on local political parties. Similarly, the Preston Manning-led Public Health Emergencies Governance Review Panel also twice released copies of responses to its survey. Forestry and Parks and Service Alberta have also released survey details upon request within the past year.

Conversely, the Alberta finance ministry has repeatedly withheld the results of its own survey on a potential Alberta pension plan.

mblack@postmedia.com

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