CANMORE – A Bow Valley-based not-for-profit was allowed a hearing to see if it has standing for a potential judicial review in its attempt to have the Alberta government complete a new environmental assessment of Three Sisters Mountain Village-owned lands.
The Court of King’s Bench agreed to Bow Valley Engage’s ask to hear its request to potentially apply for a judicial review after the Ministry of Environment and Protected Areas said in February they lacked jurisdiction to have such an assessment take place.
“The applicant has leave to request expedited hearing dates for both the judicial review application and the challenge to standing application,” stated Justice Nancy Carruthers’s May 13 decision.
No date has been set for the hearing, but a full day hearing will be held later this year. A separate half day special chambers date will take place this year between Bow Valley Engage and Three Sisters Mountain Village Properties Limited (TSMVPL) after it submitted on May 9 a challenge to the standing application from Bow Valley Engage.
Once the hearings take place, the court will decide if Bow Valley Engage has standing to ask for such a request.
Carruthers’ order has the province needing to file a certified record of proceedings by June 28 and anyone wanting to be an intervenor needs to file an application before May 31.
In a three-page application for judicial review filed April 9, Bow Valley Engage argued a judicial review was needed with the provincial ministry making “errors of fact, mixed fact and law and/or law.”
The request added the province failed to provide reasons to issue a decision, failed to justify the decision, misinterpreted multiple sections of the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act and “refusing to take jurisdiction over the matters.”
Karsten Heuer, the president of Bow Valley Engage, said they’re not arguing the outcome of development on Three Sisters-owned lands moving forward but asking for a new environmental impact assessment.
“We’re not arguing that outcome. What we’re requesting is that the government also protect public rights, as defined in its own Environmental Enhancement and Protection Act,” he said. “What about our right to clean water and air, no unnecessary carbon pollution, and wildlife that can travel between and keep our nearby provincial and national parks, like Kananaskis Country and Banff, healthy? And what about taxpayer liability when things go wrong?”
In a Feb. 28 letter to TSMVPL, Bow Valley Engage and Stoney Nakoda First Nation, the province said the Three Sisters Village and Smith Creek area structure plans (ASPs) align with the Natural Resources Conservation Board’s (NRCB) 1992 decision.
“I find that the current Three Sisters project and its ongoing construction are a continuation of the overall tourism and recreational project that was applied for and approved by the [NRCB] in 1992,” stated Corinne Kristensen, the director of regulatory assurance section for the Environment and Protected Areas ministry, in the letter.
“As such, I am of the opinion that I lack jurisdiction to determine whether an environmental assessment of the project is warranted at this time.”
However, Kristensen wrote in the letter if new information became available she may be able to review the decision.
Legal representation for TSMVPL filed an application May 9 to stop the attempt for a judicial review on the grounds “Bow Valley Engage Society does not have private interest standing or public interest standing to bring the application.”
The request for a new environmental assessment was made first by Bow Valley Engage, a citizens group located largely in Canmore, followed by the Îyârhe (Stoney) Nakoda First Nation. The two groups had claimed the most recent environmental assessment was outdated by more than three decades and needed a new review.
Bow Valley Engage first made its request Jan. 9 and Stoney Nakoda First Nation followed suit on Feb. 7. TSMVPL also provided letters on Jan. 24 and Feb. 9.
In their original legal argument, Bow Valley Engage had stressed the region is “an environmentally significant area and unique within the province of Alberta,” and its importance as a wildlife corridor between Kananaskis Country and Banff National Park.
The Stoney Nakoda First Nation argued there had been “no consideration given to the potential impacts of the project on Aboriginal peoples and their treaty rights,” as well as impacts on wildlife and the environment.
The Stoney Nakoda First Nation had yet to file as a part when the decision was made May 13, but had been provided notice, according to Carruthers’ order.
TSMVPL has previously stated the lands underwent an environmental impact assessment as part of the 1992 NRCB decision and has since done environmental, biophysical, wildlife and other assessments that have been reviewed by independent third parties.
Smith Creek and Three Sisters Village ASPs had environmental impact studies completed in 2020, which were reviewed by the province, the Town of Canmore and an independent third party hired by the Town.
TSMVPL had originally applied for a wildlife corridor in 2017, but it was ultimately denied by Alberta Environment and Parks in 2018.
The same ministry approved a modified application in 2020, which featured a realignment of the Across Valley Corridor and a wildlife crossing under the Trans-Canada Highway.
Canmore council adopted the ASPs last October after the Court of Appeal upheld the Land and Property Rights Tribunal (LPRT) decisions from 2022. The adoption of the ASPs was originally submitted for council consideration in 2021.
Canmore council approved the first phase of the conceptual scheme for Three Sisters Village ASP in April.
It will construct between 700-1,075 residential units, but the first ones aren’t likely to be ready until 2026.
The Town and TSMVPL will work through infrastructure and planning in 2024 and into 2025, but construction is anticipated to begin as early as 2025.
The Smith Creek ASP would see an estimated population of 2,200 to 4,500 people and includes about 1,000 and 2,150 residential units. The ASP includes upwards of 75,000-square-feet of light industrial and business space and roughly 125,000 square feet of retail and commercial space for local services.
The Three Sisters Village ASP could have between 3,000-5,000 residential units – which would depend on the bonus density element – and between 5,500-10,000 visitors and permanent population. It would include up to 602,000 square feet of retail and business space and about 190,000 square feet of indoor recreation and entertainment, with 75 hectares of open space and 10 per cent of affordable housing.
