Economics drive tar sands operations. Record highs in oil prices, though still fluctuating, will make tar sand oil ‘economical’ (read: profitable) well into the future. Government subsidies to this environmentally disastrous process remain in place from a time when the federal government was sponsoring research into the possibility of recovering this oil. Stock prices of tar sands developers grow the more conventional oil is scarce.
Dr Helen Caldicott: Truth is stranger than fission
Helen Caldicott warns about the still-present nuclear danger
SCOTT HARRIS / scott@vueweekly.com
For more than 35 years, Dr Helen Caldicott has been an outspoken critic of the follies of the nuclear age, dedicating her life to shining a spotlight on the risks posed to human health and the environment by both nuclear weapons and the widespread use of nuclear power.
Canadian Oil Sands Looks Attractive Despite Near Term Risk
by: Kurt Wulff
October 06, 2008
We are committed to the belief that Canadian Oil Sands Trust (COSWF.PK) is an attractive long-term investment despite suspending our buy recommendations for near-term financial market price risk.
Protesting First Nations, Enbridge, may have a deal
Friday » October 3 » 2008
The Star Phoenix
SASKATOON - An official for Enbridge Pipelines Inc. is confident that First Nations protests against the company will end later today after the sides reached a tentative agreement.
Foreign workers lured with lies
Wed, October 1, 2008
They or their families may be charged onerous fees back home, then told they have a debt to pay off here
By TAMARA CHERRY, SUN MEDIA
TORONTO -- The stereotype is a young woman forced to work in a brothel, strip club or massage parlour.
But reality cuts across all walks of life.
Nannies. Construction workers. Seasonal farmers.
Oil Shale: Viable Domestic Energy, Or ‘Dirtiest Fuel on the Planet’
By Jad Mouawad
September 30, 2008, 10:40 am
A ban on the development of oil shale — rock from which oil is melted and extracted for energy use — is about to expire.
After months of bitter wrangling, a quarter-century ban on offshore drilling along most of the nation’s coastline will expire at midnight tonight.
Six Ways Harper Is Wrecking the Economy
Myth of the good manager.
Need evidence? Look south.
By Murray Dobbin
Published: October 2, 2008
The Tyee
It's perhaps understandable that Stephen Harper is far ahead of his rivals when it comes to poll questions about who is the best at competent "economic management." Like George Bush in the U.S., Harper has deliberately framed himself as the "strict father" figure -- in charge, hard-edged, a firm guiding hand when things are increasingly uncertain.
Dion just seems inept, unable to capitalize on the Liberals' mythic record of the 1990s.
Fred McDonald, listed as "proof" of how good things are for Fort MacKay, has written a book where he lies about his own history and got Syncrude to publish it. He doesn't have cred even in the village itself.
--M
First Nations fine with oilsands
By GRAHAM HICKS
October 2, 2008
AMERICAN MEDICINE
Billy Bob: "The doctor said he'd have me walking within two weeks."
Skeeter: "Was he successful?"
Billy Bob: "Yep. I had to sell my car to pay his bill."
ABORIGINAL SEAL OF APPROVAL
Canada to Curb Tar Sands Exports?
September 30, 2008, 2:59 pm
By Clifford Krauss // New York Times
Canada prides itself on its clean-and-green bona fides, and its ratification of the Kyoto protocol a few years back came in sharp contrast to the Bush administration’s dismissal of the agreement.
But the country’s rapid expansion of oil sands development, a great emitter of greenhouse gases, has strangely escaped much political debate — even though it is a major reason why Canada cannot meet its Kyoto targets.
First Nations could benefit from Alaska Highway pipeline
Last Updated: Thursday, October 2, 2008
CBC News
A Canadian company that's in the running to build a natural gas pipeline along the Alaska Highway says it won't get involved with land claims with First Nations along the proposed route, but will offer commercial benefits instead.
Making the remarks Thursday in Whitehorse, TransCanada Corp. vice-president Tony Palmer said the company would offer benefits, whether affected First Nations have settled their land claims or not.
Indian blockades slow work on crude pipeline
October 02, 2008
Enbridge Inc. says Indian blockades in Saskatchewan have forced the
company to halt most construction on its $3 billion Alberta Clipper
pipeline project.
The pipeline will carry 450,000 barrels of oil-sands crude from
Hardisty, Alta, to Superior, Wis., in two locations: just outside the
provincial capital of Regina and near Kerrobert, in western
Saskatchewan.
"These demonstrations have restricted access to our heavy equipment
coming and going from staging sites," said Glenn Herchak, a
