Quebecers visit Alberta to get ‘crash course’ on energy development

CALGARY – A group of Quebecers have wrapped up a trip to Alberta, where they aimed to learn more about how land owners have been affected by energy development.

The oil and gas industry is relatively new to Quebec, where companies hope to extract natural gas from the promising Utica shale formation that underlies part of the province.

There’s a halt on new natural gas development while a panel studies the environmental effects of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking — the method used to force natural gas out of the rock.

Pascal Grondin travelled from Thetford Mines, south of Quebec City, and was one of 12 participants on the three-day trip.

He says it was a “crash course” in energy development and he has lot more research to do.

Industry groups picked up the tab for the three-day trip, though two mayors who took part paid their own way.