A review of the environmental enforcement culture in Alberta in relation to the oil sands

The members of the Board of Directors are appointed by the Faculty of Law at the University of Calgary and the President of the University of Calgary. [...] Also, because of differences in the rules of evidence, the use of the ‘balance of probabilities’ test for liability and the removal of the due diligence defence, the chances of penalty imposition are usually assumed to be greater for [monetary penalties].”). [...] Section 237(1) of the Act sets out the general framework: Where the Director [designated for administering administrative penalties] is of the opinion that a person has contravened a provision of this Act that is specified for the purposes of this section in the regulations, the Director may, subject to the regulations, by notice in writing given to that person require that person to pay to the Go [...] The notice must contain the particulars of the contravention, the amount of the administrative penalty, the date by which it is to be paid, and the availability of a right of appeal.76 This notice gives the party an opportunity to cause the Compliance Manager to review the administrative penalty and the facts on which it is based. [...] The maximum penalty payable is $5000 for each contravention or for each day or part of a day the contravention occurs or continues to occur.78 The lowest penalty is $1,000.79 The factors that determine the actual penalty to be imposed include: the importance of compliance to the regulatory scheme, the degree of willfulness or negligence in the infraction, whether any mitigating steps were taken by