On March 29, Energy Minister Sonya Savage fulfilled her February 8 promise of public consultation on a new coal policy by announcing a 5-member consultation committee. The objective, according to the committee’s Terms of Reference (ToR), was “to develop a twenty-first century natural resource development policy – a coal policy – by Albertans and for Albertans.” Emphasizing that the government “will take time to do this right,” the ToR directed the Coal Committee to file its “report and recommendations” by November 15, 2021.

The NDP did not want to wait that long.