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.
Cameco President Says Sask Not Quite Ready For Nuclear Plant
By Brynn Harris
Updated May 16, 2008 - 6:13am
The President of a prominent Saskatchewan uranium mining company does not think the province is ready for a nuclear power plant.
Recently, a leaked SaskPower report named Lake Diefenbaker as an ideal spot for one.
Cameco President and CEO, Jerry Grandey, says Saskatchewan does not have enough people to support the electrical output of a nuclear power plant.
May 15, 2008 8:28:00 PM MST
North Dakota judge denies attempt to halt Keystone oil pipeline
BISMARCK, N.D. _ A judge has refused to stop a crude-oil pipeline that TransCanada Corp. (TSX:TRP) wants to build in eastern North Dakota, saying state regulators considered adequate safety precautions in approving its route.
A project spokesman said construction should begin next week.
Prepare for gas pipeline hurdles, consultant warns
SLOW GOING: Similar Canadian project has been tied up for years.
The Associated Press
Published: April 15th, 2008 11:39 PM
Last Modified: April 15th, 2008 11:49 PM
CALGARY, Alberta -- Anyone who thinks an Alaska natural gas pipeline will see fewer hurdles than the long-stagnant Mackenzie Gas Project is sadly mistaken, says the man who used to run the Northwest Territories' natural resources department.
KEARL PERMIT DENIED
Imperial project delayed as it awaits Cabinet action
Claudia Cattaneo, Financial Post, With Files From Carrie Tait
Published: Thursday, May 15, 2008
CALGARY - Imperial Oil Ltd.'s $8-billion Kearl oil-sands project faces a major delay after a federal court judge yesterday turned down its request to have a key permit reinstated.
Provinces wrangle over nuclear plant
Jon Harding, Canwest News Service
Published: Wednesday, May 07, 2008
CALGARY -- Alberta and Saskatchewan are competing to house Western Canada's first commercial nuclear power plant, Saskatchewan's Natural Resources Minister Bill Boyd confirmed Tuesday.
Boyd said his Saskatchewan Party government has held "early" talks with Bruce Power LP, the private nuclear operator from Western Ontario.
Temporary foreign workers see exponential growth in Alberta
Apr. 30, 2008
Richard Gilbert // staff writer
Alberta is experiencing an explosion in the number of temporary foreign workers (TFW) in the construction industry, but official statistics may underestimate the number of these workers in the country.
“Alberta has seen exponential growth in the use of TFWs for construction,” states a study recently released by the Construction Sector Council (CSC).
The study investigates the impact that the workers have on Canada’s construction industry.
Hot issue = cool debate
A report that suggests Lake Diefenbaker might be a good location for a nuclear power plant does not mean such a facility will ever be built. It does, however, kickstart a welcome debate.
The Leader-Post
Published: Friday, May 09, 2008
Nuclear energy, we hope, is finally on the table for discussion in Saskatchewan.
Ducks die in oily Sask. pond
Province investigates deaths of 53 birds at waste retention site
Darren Bernhardt, The StarPhoenix
Published: Thursday, May 15, 2008
The provincial government is scrambling to deal with the deaths of 53 ducks at an oil-extraction site west of Saskatoon.
Foreign workers pull disappearing act: employer
Updated Thu. May. 15 2008 10:25 AM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
The foreign worker program is causing big headaches, says one Calgary employer, who complains that 20 of his employees pulled a disappearing act soon after arriving in the country.
Calgary business owner, Owen Colbourne, has brought in 31 foreign labourers to work at his manufacturing and consulting company in the past 18 months.
It's not just about 500 dead ducks
May 11, 2008 04:30 AM
Gillian Steward
Who could have known that a flock of ducks on its way home for the summer was fated to become a powerful symbol of all that is wrong with Alberta's most vital industrial project – the tar sands?
As much of the world knows by now, about 500 of them died when they set down on a lake of oily goo, usually referred to by the petroleum industry and the government as a tailing pond – a much more neutral phrase than 22 square kilometres of toxic sludge produced when oil is extracted from the sandy soil.
