[Fuzz]

Albertans risk being on the hook for billions of dollars’ worth of cleanup of the oil sands under current rules that govern security payments for the massive mining operations, according to a new report from the province’s Auditor-General.

The fundsheld through the Mine Financial Security Program amounted to just $1.8-billion as of September. Meanwhile there is an estimated reclamation liability of $51.9-billion, the Office of the Auditor-General found in a report released Thursday. That amount represents the potential cost to clean up mines at the ends of their lives.

But the province said it won’t pursue what it called a “flawed recommendation” by Auditor-General Doug Wylie to revisit how asset values are calculated under the MFSP. Instead, a statement from the office of Environment Minister Rebecca Schulz said that the program is “stronger than ever.”

“The risk of overstatement remains high,” Mr. Wiley wrote. While the ministry argues that formulas used by the MFSP “are reasonable and that the MFSP is functioning as intended,” he added, “we found no evidence to support these claims.”

“It allows companies to use the value of Crown resources as security against a future liability to the Crown. That’s completely backwards,” Prof. Leach said.

The way the MFSP is set up means that the government will come asking companies for a security deposit well into the future, he said, “when they get much closer to bankruptcy.”
“That should raise red flags,” he said.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/busi...costs-auditor/

Looking forward to when we start cashing in on this part of the Alberta Advantage with an empty bank account. It's gonna be awesome.