A final report about the Alberta government’s public inquiry into alleged foreign funding of anti-Alberta energy campaigns is set to be released today.
Following multiple deadline extensions, commissioner Steve Allan handed in his report to the government on July 30. Under the terms of the inquiry, Energy Minister Sonya Savage had until Oct. 28 — 90 days — to release the report.
Savage will release the report’s findings during a news conference scheduled to start at 11 a.m. local time. You can watch it live here.
The controversial two-year inquiry was the result of an election promise by Premier Jason Kenney.
The inquiry was initially supposed to last about a year, but the United Conservative Party government granted Allan four deadline extensions and increased his budget from $2.5 million to $3.5 million before the final report was delivered last summer.
In a statement posted on the inquiry’s website on July 30, Allan said he looked forward to sharing the 600-page report’s findings.
“When my final report is made public, I believe Albertans will gain a new understanding of how foreign funding has played an influential role in public policy and political discourse,” he said.
“It is my firm belief that it is up to Albertans alone to determine how they wish to see their public policy and political will realized, unfettered by the influence of foreign monies.”
About $1.28 billion came from outside the country to fund environmental initiatives from January 2000 to October 2020, according to copies of draft reports penned by Allan and forensic accounting performed by Deloitte, which were obtained by CBC News in late July.
Deloitte found that about 2.9 per cent to 4.6 per cent of that money — roughly $38 million to $59 million — could be tied to anti-Alberta energy campaigns over two decades.
Several environmental groups named in the report told CBC they were informed by Allan that they had done nothing wrong.
