Health

"And Then Let's Go For That Justice" Part II
Indigenous women demand respect in Ottawa

by Maya Rolbin-Ghanie

The Dominion - http://www.dominionpaper.ca

The February 14 memorial march in Vancouver's Downtown East Side is held annually to remember and honour missing women and support their families and friends. Photo: Dawn Paley

In honour of missing and murdered indigenous women, the Walk4Justice began in Vancouver on June 21, Aboriginal Day, and ended with a rally of about 250 on Parliament Hill on September 15.

"And Then Let's Go for that Justice" Part I
The Walk4Justice

by Maya Rolbin-Ghanie

The Dominion - http://www.dominionpaper.ca

Some of the many Indigenous women and men who walked across Canada to draw attention to systemic abuses against First Nations women. Photo: Maya Rolbin-Ghanie

This article is part one of two on the Walk4Justice.

New rules govern cleanup of tailings ponds
KATHERINE O'NEILL
February 4, 2009

EDMONTON -- A controversial byproduct of oil-sands operations at the centre of an environmental scandal last spring involving 500 dead ducks will be subjected to tougher rules by Alberta's energy regulator.

Tailings ponds - the toxic, watery waste left over from bitumen processing - must be cleaned up and better managed under new targets and timelines for oil-sands producers.

2009 January 25 - The Integrity of Creation and the Athabasca Oil Sands

A Pastoral Letter on The Integrity of Creation and the Athabasca Oil Sands to The Faithful of the diocese of St. Paul on The Occasion of the Jubilee Year in Honour of St. Paul by
†Luc Bouchard Bishop of St. Paul in Alberta, Canada
January 25th, 2009

The Integrity of Creation and the Athabasca Oil Sands

“Faced with the widespread destruction of the environment people
everywhere are coming to understand that we cannot continue to
use the goods of the earth as we have in the past. . . a new ecological

This past summer, myself and friends were able to "tour" many of the projects in the Athabasca mining region and south of Fort McMurray (one of many places) where SagD/In Situ operations rule the day. These are albums belatedly created from that trip. This does not comprise anything remotely coming towards an exhaustive set of the multiple projects.

(you do not need to have a Facebook identity to see these albums).

Photos are from the land and the air.

Opti-Nexen's Long Lake (North) Project & CP's Surmont Project.

Environment Canada says tar sands pollution will get worse: Toronto Star
Chris Gardner
1/21/2009

The Toronto Star has obtained documents from Environment Canada that say pollution will continue to plague Alberta's oil sands despite plans to pipe harmful greenhouse gases deep underground.

Israel and the Tar Sands
by Macdonald Stainsby
17 January 2009

January 9, 2009
Youth protest against the tar sands in Fort Chipewyan

Youth from Fort Chipewyan marched through the streets to protest against the tar sands in -32 degree temperatures this afternoon.

The march was organized by 10 year old Robyn Courtoreille, who got other youth involved in the protest.

"Syncrude and Suncor have been poisioning our water, air, so we protested to let them know we want a future not cancer," said Dailen Powder, 12, after the protest.

"I was protesting because I dont want anymore deformed two jawed fish in our lake," said Cherish Kaskamin, 11.

Survival is Non-Negotiable!
January 19, 2009
Are climate talks the new World Trade Organization?
by Ben Powless

The Dominion - http://www.dominionpaper.ca

Oilsands 'change everything' says Ignatieff

By Tom Barrett January 15, 2009

The Alberta oilsands will allow Canada to stand up to the U.S. on everything from Arctic sovereignty to rewriting NAFTA, Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff said Wednesday.

Ignatieff told a town hall meeting in a Gastown pub that Canadians are just starting to understand "how powerful the oilsands make us."

He told an overflow audience crammed into the pub's tiny back room that he toured the project in August.