The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that the Supreme Court of Canada will rule Thursday whether federal bankruptcy laws trump provincial environmental regulation. The Globe's Jeff Lewis writes that the complex case has roots in the 2015 bankruptcy of Redwater Energy. A receiver appointed to liquidate Redwater's assets had sought to sell only its most profitable oil wells and disclaim the rest, leaving responsibility for cleanup to the wider industry. The Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) objected. However, a lower court sided with Redwater's lender, ATB Financial, in effect putting the bank's interest to recoup money on a soured loan ahead of the AER's ability to enforce cleanup as set out in provincial regulations. The AER appealed that decision. The AER warned that fallout from a failed appeal could further strain an industry and province that have struggled to fund remediation of tens of thousands of aging oil and gas wells. However, there are fears that a ruling in the regulator's favour may heap pressure on capital-starved companies by making it tougher to raise money from major banks. Alberta's NDP government has offered $235-million in loans to accelerate cleanup of defunct wells.