Social Impacts. Overnight injections of migrant workers will not build healthy communities and can have severely adverse impacts on existing communities, especially those of indigenous nations on their traditional lands. Such development brings vices and long term displacement too often. Drugs, alcohol and associated violence spreads. Hunting becomes difficult when the land is threatened, leading to a further loss of culture and tradition. In towns like Fort McMurray there is no planning for the future, but merely consumption in the present. However transient the individuals may be, the populations will not leave, as “development” takes on a logic all its own. All levels of run away development are subordinate to that development, not social need.
Big Oil on the Water
Skating Around the Tanker Issue
By CHRIS GENOVALI
A well known Victoria, British Columbia radio talk show host once told local Conservative MP (Member of Parliament) Gary Lunn on air that he was such a good skater (as in skating around the issues) that he should be competing in the upcoming 2010 Winter Olympics.
May 15, 2008 - For Immediate Release
Jailed Algonquin Leader Begins Hunger Strike
Second Algonquin Chief Going to Jail - McGuinty Government Does Nothing
On February 15, 2008 Ardoch Algonquin First Nation
(AAFN) Spokesperson Robert Lovelace was sentenced in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Kingston to 6 months in maximum security, plus crippling fines, for peacefully protesting uranium mining in the Ardoch homeland. Chief Paula Sherman was fined $15,000 and given until today to pay the fine, failing which she will be jailed.
Eni finds oil sands deposits in Congo
By Ed Crooks in Pointe Noire, Republic of Congo
Published: May 20 2008 03:00 | Last updated: May 20 2008 03:00
Eni, the Italian oil group, has discovered a large oil sands deposit in the Republic of Congo that is expected to become Africa's first large unconventional oil development and could hold several billion barrels.
Paolo Scaroni, Eni's chief executive, said the project, due to begin production in 2011, opened "a new front" in the development of unconventional oil.
Oil thirst means a moderate U.S.
Don't worry about American election, says ex-premier
Sheila Pratt, Edmonton Journal
Published: Monday, May 19, 2008
Alberta has little to fear from the tough talk in the U.S. on climate change heading into the fall presidential election, says former premier Peter Lougheed.
"Even though it's an election year, and that makes it more difficult, it's going to be challenging for the United States to avoid having a moderate position," Lougheed said in an interview.
Here is the intervention that was made at the United Nations by the
Athabasca Chipewyan and Mikisew Cree First Nations.
INTERVENTION TO THE SEVENTH SESSION ON THE UNITED NATIONS PERMANENT FORUM ON
INDIGENOUS ISSUES
Read at approximately 12:00 noon, Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Intervention on Agenda Item 5: Human rights: dialogue with the Special
Rapportuer on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of
indigenous peoples and other special rapporteurs.
Thank you Madame chair,
Mackenzie faces new setback
Governmental panel postpones release of environmental report till 2009
NORVAL SCOTT // May 16, 2008
CALGARY -- The Mackenzie gas pipeline has been slapped with a new significant regulatory setback, delaying the $16.2-billion project by at least a year and highlighting the increasing roadblocks facing companies seeking to develop major oil and gas projects.
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.
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.
