Oil Sands Truth: Shut Down the Tar Sands

Social Impacts

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.

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Nobel Gore? A Prime Time Hypocrite

October 15, 2007
A Prime Time Hypocrite
Nobel Gore?

By JOSHUA FRANK

Al Gore has returned to the political spotlight in exalted fashion with a Nobel Peace Prize in hand, propping himself up for a potential presidential bid in 2008. Front and center in Gore's new rhetorical entourage is the state of nature, and in particular, global warming. And while Gore may be delivering an important message about the fate of our fragile ecosystems, one must be weary of the messenger's past. For Gore's own environmental record leaves much to be desired.

Oil Versus Water

Oil Versus Water
Toxic water poses threat to Alberta's Indigenous communities
by Kim Petersen
The Dominion

Alberta is replete with precious oil. Recovery of that oil from the tar sands, however, is putting another precious resource at risk: water. Dene and Cree First Nations people live close to and in the midst of the largest tar sand deposit in the Athabasca River region and oil extraction is harming their water supply.

Reflecting on Marx and money gone mad-- Rabble

Reflecting on Marx and money gone mad
by Duncan Cameron
October 9, 2007

The Bank of Canada is busily handing out money to buoy the Canadian financial system, resorting to purchase, and re-purchase agreements which allow financial institutions time to find more funds to satisfy their need for liquidity aka cash. Note that public money is readily available to banks with shortfalls, but not for the homeless.

Australian government report: Peak oil is real, get ready

by The Honourable Andrew McNamara

Future Oil Supply Uncertainty Highlighted
Media Release from the Minister for Sustainability, Climate Change and Innovation

A report tabled in State Parliament today highlights the need for Queensland industry, primary producers and communities to lessen their dependence on imported oil supplies.

Sex-trade workers charged after undercover police raids

Thu, October 11, 2007
Sex-trade workers charged after undercover police raids
UPDATED: 2007-10-11 03:18:22 MST
By NADIA MOHARIB

Undercover cops worked some of the city's prostitute strolls picking up working women now accused of sex-trade related offences.

The sweep by the vice and community-response units in the first week of October took them to four of five city strolls -- in the Beltine, East Village, Forest Lawn and near Eau Claire, where so-called high-end prostitutes work.

A Tale of Two Cities: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Fort McMurray

To the Tar Sands

The Bad
Fort Muck: place of sex, drugs, violence, homelessness, massive trucks, polluted air and contaminated water. This is what we were told we would find at the end of deadly Highway 63, or in our case Secondary Highway 881. The city of 70 000 has been growing at a most alarming rate. In response, city council has gone so far as to call for a moratorium on new developments. The municipality simply can not keep up with endless stream of new arrivals and the associated demand for services.

"Review" of CNRL's Temporary Foreign Worker Deaths

Alberta Justice officials review oil sands deaths

FORT MCMURRAY, ALTA.

An on-site investigation into the deaths of two temporary Chinese workers at a northern Alberta oil sands tank construction site has been completed but findings have not been released.

The two men died last April when a massive tank collapsed at the multibillion-dollar Horizon oil sands project, killing the two temporary Chinese workers and injuring four more.

It will be up to Alberta Justice officials to determine whether charges should be laid against the company.

Canadian Press

Road to Riches: (Mackenzie) Pipeline Through Paradise

Road to Riches: Pipeline Through Paradise
News: The race to claim Arctic fuel reserves could revive the proposed Mackenzie River Valley pipeline.
By James Ridgeway

October 10, 2007

Keystone: Commissioners say they're not against pipeline (N Dakota)

Commissioners say they're not against pipeline
Oct 10, 2007 - 04:01:41 CDT
Associtaed Press

County commissioners along the route of a proposed oil pipeline from Canada held an impromptu meeting with Public Service Commissioner Kevin Cramer to tell him they're not all against the plan.

About two dozen commissioners met Monday night with Cramer while in Bismarck for the Association of Counties convention.

It's not just Alberta, it's the whole country

It's not just Alberta, it's the whole country
ANDREW NIKIFORUK
October 6, 2007
review: STUPID TO THE LAST DROP By William Marsden
How Alberta is Bringing Environmental Armageddon to Canada (and Doesn't Seem to Care)

The Globe and Mail