Page 2 - Keely Cameron News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

In December 2022, the Alberta legislature passed a bill allowing for an increase to the limit on civil claims in the Alberta Court of Justice formerly, the Provincial Court of Alberta and sometimes referred to as small claims court from the existing maximum of $50,000 to up to $200,000. On April 5, 2023, following a survey of the courts and legal community, the government announced that the civil claim limit will raise to $100,000, effective August 1, 2023.

The Court of King's Bench for Saskatchewan has rejected another attempt by a rural municipality to gain priority in an oil and gas receivership. This follows the recent Alberta Decision in Orphan Well Association v Trident Exploration Corp, 2022 ABKB 839, where the Alberta Court of King's Bench confirmed that the abandonment and reclamation obligations owed to the Orphan Well Association and the Alberta Energy Regulator rank in priority to claims of municipalities for unpaid property taxes in insolvency proceedings.

Two recent insolvencies have resulted in the number of orphaned wells and facilities in Saskatchewan ballooning to over 4000. To reduce the burden on the Saskatchewan orphan fund, the Oil and Gas Tenure Registry Regulations have recently been amended to authorize the Administrator of Oil and Gas Tenure in the Lands and Mineral Tenure Branch of the Ministry the Administrator to assign or convey a lease that is currently held by a holder that is insolvent, bankrupt, defunct or cannot be located.