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April 2012 Encana's Historic Mineral Fee Title Lands That Came with the Railroad Tim Grusie, Encana Rare is the Canadian oil and gas company that has corporate roots reaching back more than 125 years - to the very beginnings, in fact, of the petroleum industry in Canada. Encana Corporation's ownership of fee title lands dates far back to the time of Rupert's Land in the early days of Canada when a royal decree granted land to the Hudson's Bay Company. Alberta wasn't even a province then. With British Columbia joining the Commonwealth of Canada in 1871, the government committed to the construction of an intercontinental railway to unite the country from east to west. In 1881, the Dominion of Canada contracted Canadian Pacific Railways (CPR) to undertake construction. The lands granted to CPR for the construction of the railway form the basis of Encana's fee title ownership today. Our speaker is Tim Grusie, who has spent 30 years with the Alberta Land Titles Office, where he "retired" as Director of Surveys Registration responsible for the Calgary and Edmonton Surveys sections within Land Titles. He was hired by Encana in 2008 to build the Fee Title Team and is currently employed as Lead, Fee Title within the Lease Compliance and Fee Title Team in Encana's Clearwater Business Unit. He is an Associate Member, Alberta Land Surveyors Association, a member of CAPLA, and is looking forward to retiring to what he calls, "Wally Wilderness" living. |
