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Didsbury town hall shows rural-urban opposition to well scam has government nervous

StopTheScam Team 3 min read

Didsbury town hall shows rural-urban opposition to well scam has government nervous

Attendees at the Didsbury town hall meeting filling the Elks Hall, with people from Calgary, Didsbury, Innisfail, and Trochu gathered to discuss the Mature Asset Strategy

Our August town hall at Elks Hall in Didsbury proved something important: Albertans are awake to the government’s plan to make taxpayers foot the bill for oil and gas cleanup, and industry is starting to sweat. Attendees joined us from Calgary, Didsbury, Innisfail, Trochu, and more to discuss how the government’s Mature Asset Strategy risks dumping cleanup costs onto taxpayers.

The proof they’re worried? Alberta Energy Minister Brian Jean’s Chief of Staff, Vitor Marciano, showed up unannounced. The government doesn’t send the Minister’s right hand to small-town meetings unless they’re keeping an eye on something. He admitted he “probably agree[s] with 85–90%” of what we presented, but turned defensive when we highlighted the risk of taxpayers covering polluters’ cleanup obligations.

What we heard in Didsbury

Landowner Mark Dorin shared his 30-year struggle to get leaking wells on his family’s Didsbury property cleaned up. Dr. David Swann laid out the health risks in direct, plain language.

Speaker presenting at the Didsbury town hall, with attendees listening to presentations about the Mature Asset Strategy and its impact on rural communities

The numbers don’t lie:

  • $60+ billion in oil and gas well cleanup costs hanging over Alberta [1]
  • $254 million in unpaid municipal property taxes from oil and gas companies [2]
  • $150 million paid by taxpayers for land rents on behalf of delinquent companies [3]
  • $36,000 per household if taxpayers get stuck with the cleanup bill [4]

Meanwhile, many of these companies posted record profits, while using fancy schemes to get liabilities off their books.

They’re pushing this through in weeks: here’s what we do

The government plans to ram the Mature Asset Strategy legislation through this fall. Here are three actions that make a difference right now:

  1. Fire off a letter to your MLA (2 minutes): Use our tool with pre-written text – tell them rural Alberta won’t subsidize corporate cleanup
  2. Forward this to three neighbours affected by aging wells, especially anyone who:
    • Has inactive wells on their property
    • Sits on municipal council
    • Leads a local agricultural group
  3. Help us organize a town hall in your community
Attendees asking questions and engaging in discussion at the Didsbury town hall, showing active community participation in addressing the oil well cleanup crisis

Why this matters for Didsbury

Didsbury and the surrounding area has thousands of aging wells. When companies walk away from their obligations, your property taxes go up to cover municipal shortfalls. Your land values drop. Your kids inherit the mess.

This isn’t about left or right. It isn’t about ideology or politics. It’s about making companies honour their legal obligations to ALL Albertans before they dash with the cash.

Contact Phillip at: phillip@ResponsibleEnergyAB.ca if you want to host another meeting, need yard signs, or have intel on local wells. We’re building something powerful here.

The government’s watching us. Good. Let’s give them something to worry about.

References

[1] Ecojustice. Alberta’s Inactive and Orphan Wells Threaten Wallets, Health, and Nature. November 2, 2024.

[2, 3] Riley, Sharon J. “Alberta spent $30M on unpaid land rent for delinquent oil and gas companies in 2024.” The Narwhal. July 28, 2025.

[4] Ecojustice. Holding oil & gas companies accountable to clean up their mess. July 22, 2025.

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