Labour / Migration

15 undocumented workers arrested in BP raid
December 10, 2008
By Andy Grimm Post-Tribune staff writer

WHITING - Immigration authorities arrested 15 janitorial workers in an early morning raid at the BP plant.

The raid came after at two-year investigation of United Building Maintenance, a Carol Stream, Ill.,-based cleaning company that had been hired by BP. The cleaning crews had access to sensitive areas of the refinery, said Gary Hartwig, special agent-in-charge of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Office of Investigations in Chicago.

Alberta rethinks film funding rules after anti-oilsands doc gets cash
Thursday, December 11, 2008
CBC News

A documentary that takes a critical look at the oilsands is raising a big stink at the Alberta legislature.

It turns out that Downstream, by U.S. documentary maker Leslie Iwerks, was funded in part by the provincial government.

That's prompted the government to take a closer look at how films get funded in Alberta.

Great Lakes, Great Peril: Oil and Water
Little city is at center of a great debate
Pipes link the Great Lakes with massive oil reserves in friendly Alberta. They may bring jobs, energy and pollution. And it's all happening as the century of oil gives way to the century of water.

By Dan Egan of the Journal Sentinel
Posted: Dec. 6, 2008

Great Lakes-Alberta tar sands connection
Journal Sentinel

First of two parts

Superior - U.S. dependence on foreign oil conjures images of derricks pecking at Saudi Arabian sands or supertankers steaming for coastal refineries.

David Suzuki: Tar sand wealth comes with environmental costs
By David Suzuki and Faisal Moola

If you want to be scared, you don’t need to watch a horror movie or read the latest Stephen King bestseller.

Real terror can be found by simply firing up Google Earth, the computer program that allows users to look at satellite pictures of any place on the planet. By mousing over and zooming in, you can see what Alberta’s tar sands look like from space.

It is not a pretty sight. In fact, it’s scary—and for good reason.

StatoilHydro scraps C$16 bln oil sands upgrader
Thu Dec 4, 2008 2:21pm EST

(Recasts with additional comment and detail, changes dateline from OSLO)

CALGARY, Alberta, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Norway's StatoilHydro (STL.OL: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Thursday it scrapped plans to build a C$16 billion ($12.6 billion) upgrader for its Canadian oil sands holdings, the latest in a string of big-ticket cancellations in the oil-rich but expensive region.

Alberta to seek tax breaks for oil sands
Capital writeoffs for bitumen upgraders on wish list for struggling sector, as finance ministers prepare to meet
SHAWN MCCARTHY
Globe and Mail // December 8, 2008

OTTAWA — The Alberta government is seeking federal tax breaks for the newly struggling oil sands sector, including accelerated capital writeoffs for upgraders, as sliding oil prices and high costs have caused companies to delay or shelve development plans.

Ottawa promises to protect oilsands from economic crisis
Mike De Souza, Canwest News Service
Published: Friday, December 05, 2008

OTTAWA - The Harper government pledged to protect the oilsands sector from economic uncertainty as it challenged opposition parties on Friday to explain how their proposed coalition would regulate pollution from the western Canadian industry.

More time granted to comment on pipeline
Groups petitioned U.S. State Department on behalf of farmers, ranchers

Thom Gabrukiewicz • tgabrukiew@argusleader.com • December 6, 2008

People will have much more time to comment on the application for a presidential permit required to build TransCanada's proposed Keystone XL pipeline.

Foreign Canada Line workers win multi-million dollar human rights case
By Kelly Sinoski
December 3, 2008
Vancouver Sun

VANCOUVER - A group of temporary foreign workers who helped build the
Canada Line have won a multi-million dollar award from the BC Human Rights
Tribunal after it found they were discriminated against by their
employers.

SELI Canada and SNC Lavalin, which was boring parallel tunnels under
downtown Vancouver, has been under the microscope since early last year
after a series of complaints to the Labour Relations Board, the B.C. Human

Enbridge brings experts to Burns Lake to inform locals
Published: November 25, 2008 11:00 PM

Enbridge held an open house on Nov. 17 at College of New Caledonia (CNC) as part of its efforts to let the public know what is going on with its Northern Gateway pipeline project.

Several dozen people attended the open house, which was held from 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm to allow people flexibility in attending the information session, and a dozen Northern Gateway engineers, environmental experts, and communications people were on hand to answer people’s questions.