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The public inquiry into foreign-funded attacks against Alberta’s energy industry went public Monday, and what an odd enterprise this is.

The device of a full-blown public inquiry, the highest judicial level of impartial public investigation, has never been used before in such an overtly political way.

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The campaign against the oilsands and pipelines has been unfair and hugely damaging. It demands a powerful response.

But the tools should be political, economic and legislative — not a special court of investigation.

There’s a big risk that the inquiry can backfire on the UCP government and the whole province.

Forcing individual critics to testify can look like an oppressive use of state power. If commissioner Steve Allan decides to hold public hearings, anti-oil groups would have a spectacular showcase for their causes, while claiming to be persecuted.

Yet the inquiry is quickly forging ahead.