Labour / Migration

This seems to be good news, but the underlying keys here are: Rising costs, costs due to the rising price of crude; these rises are directly linked to the *drive* to construct the pipelines that are ultimately needed for the continued growth of the Athabasca Tar Sands region. Two, as indicated, part of the reasoning against the MGP is the region of BC's Northeast corner perhaps containing vast reserves previously unknown.

Workers are suddenly leaving Alberta, heading to Atlantic Canada, but will it last?
By James Foster
Times & Transcript Staff // Saturday July 5th, 2008

A new report shows an exodus of people from Alberta and an influx into Atlantic Canada, the reverse of a long-standing trend that has troubled New Brunswick for a decade.

Many Maritimers are heading home from Alberta as they find that the quality of life in the Atlantic region and Metro Moncton is top notch. Here some Metro Moncton residents enjoy the water feature in front of Moncton City Hall.

"Clarity", meaning an assurance that no changes will be made to the regulatory approval process or environmental requirements, is demanded by major corporations who wish to be able to produce in the tar sands without oversight-- i.e., they "demand" the maintenance of the status quo. Nexen is one of the "partners" of the Canadian Boreal Initiative (CBI), a grouping that partners with many of the largest corporations that exist, receiving most of their funding through Ducks Unlimited Canada through Ducks Unlimited in the United States-- where the money originates with the Pew Foundation.

Output still far from peak levels, say CEOs
Canadian production to play crucial role on world markets
Shaun Polczer, Canwest News Service
Published: Wednesday, July 02, 2008

MADRID, Spain - Canada's oilsands are still years away from making a meaningful impact on global oil supplies, the heads of two of the world's largest oil companies -- Exxon and Total SA -- said at the World Petroleum Congress in Spain yesterday.

But they also said despite economic and environmental challenges, unconventional oil from Canada will eventually play a crucial role in meeting the world's oil needs.

Come to Canada! But only if you've got a job

Stories of Canada looking to poach British citizens are wildly exaggerated. We're only interested in professionals who can help us dig up oil.

Heather Mallick
guardian.co.uk, // Wednesday July 2, 2008

Pissed-off workers of Britain, Alberta wants YOU.

I beg your pardon? Alberta. It's a western province of Canada. The Rockies? Edmonton? Calgary, had the Olympics in 1988? A variety of scenic spots named after various homely minor Royals of the Victorian era?

Rental crisis fund hits $43.5M
Province pays 10,000 claims a month
Kelly Cryderman, Calgary Herald
Published: Tuesday, July 01, 2008

A provincial emergency fund designed to help renters in dire straits has ballooned to more than six times its original size -- going to $43.5 million from the $7 million announced by the Stelmach government.

More than 62,000 requests for emergency cash were granted in less than a year following the spring 2007 unveiling of the Homeless and Eviction Prevention Fund.

Foreign workers deserve protection
Calgary Herald
Published: Sunday, June 29, 2008

The measurement of success for all employment programs, in particular one aimed at easing Alberta's labour crisis, is whether it's a win-win -- for the employer and the employees.

With that in mind, judging from the numerous reports of abuse -- including the latest revelations of exploitation of 120 Chinese workers paid a fraction of what they were owed for building tanks at a northern Alberta oilsands site -- it seems the Temporary Foreign Worker Program is failing miserably.

Will Canada last?
by Murray Dobbin
June 30, 2008

What will it take persuade Canadians that if they do not act soon to reverse the course of their nation, there will be nothing left to save? I am talking, of course, about so-called "deep integration" and its official expression, the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP).

Tar-sands stocks will sink if oil price slides
Jun 27, 2008 04:30 AM
Bill Carrigan

Proponents prefer the cleaner "oil-sands" tag and opponents prefer the dirtier "tar-sands" tag. Of course, investors older than 50 tend to use the original term, tar sands.

Lately it's difficult not to notice the growing controversy over the runaway development of Canada's tar sands and its contribution to global warming. Migratory bird deaths at a Syncrude tailings pond in April delivered another public-relations blow to tar-sands companies.

Macdonald Stainsby gives http://h2opodcast.com/ an overview of the tar sands, their history in development, why now, the connection to the war on terror & Iraq, trade deals, expansion of the temporary foreign worker programs in such development, violation of indigenous nations' self-determination and environmental destruction unparalleled in the world. (Part I of II)

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