Social Impacts

Doctor who suggested oilsands-cancer link cleared of misconduct charge
By Florence Loyie, Canwest News Service
November 7, 2009

EDMONTON - An embattled family physician who raised concerns about a possible link between Alberta's oilsands and cancer rates in a remote aboriginal community received vindication this week when he was cleared of causing "undue alarm."

Dr. John O'Connor found himself in hot water after he claimed in 2003 and 2004 that residents of Fort Chipewyan, Alta., had unusually high rates of blood, colon, bile-duct and liver cancer.

Impacts of Pew Funding

What others are saying

from "Offsetting Resistance: The effects of foundation funding from the Great Bear Rainforest to the Athabasca River", a special report by Dru Oja Jay and Macdonald Stainsby. Released September, 2009.

All eyes on $4B Syncrude stake
By Deborah Yedlin, Calgary Herald
October 30, 2009

ConocoPhillips' stake in Syncrude is up for grabs. Will the taker be an existing co-owner of Syncrude or will a new player--even a foreign national oil company--buy it as an entree into the oilsands?

Who is going to buy ConocoPhillips' nine per cent interest in Syncrude?

SD ranchers voice concerns about Keystone pipeline

By CHET BROKAW (AP) November 4, 2009

PIERRE, S.D. — Ranchers who live along the route of a crude oil pipeline that TransCanada Keystone wants to build across western South Dakota said Tuesday they are worried about oil spills and damage to their land, water and roads.

Nov 4, 2009 1:35:00 PM MST
Enbridge boosts 2009 outlook, expects growth ''well into next decade'' (Enbridge)

CALGARY _ Enbridge Inc. (TSX:ENB) increased its 2009 guidance and exuded confidence Wednesday that it could maintain steady growth into the next decade.

"It´s safe to say that we are on track to deliver a record growth year for Enbridge," president and CEO Pat Daniel said on a conference call with analysts.

Approximately a year ago, at the outset of the economic crash, the debate became whether or not the economic slow down in the tar sands would be good for tar sands resistance. Some stated that the medium to small players would lose out and that at the other end of the temporary slow down would be mega-energy companies with a strangle hold on production and future leases, leaving our work harder to resist, not easier.

The news was that funding for the pipeline had been killed, and we had at the least a temporary victory over this evil pipeline plan through the Deh Cho valley. This minor but real victory was giving us much needed breathing room away from this pipeline and the backdoor, no-public-input sell out by the WWF, CPAWS and the CBI to promote the Nahanni as a "victory" when it was a sop given by the Feds to allow them to use *our money* to build the MGP.

‘Get off our property!’

This article was published on Oct 1, 2009 in the News section
Lawsuit seeks to halt expansion of Athabasca tar sands into Cree territory
Alex Ross
theVarsity.ca

BusinessNorth Exclusives
Alberta-Superior pipeline takes center stage in world climate debate
10/27/2009
by Richard Thomas

On Aug. 20, the U.S. State Department granted a Presidential permit for the 1,000-mile “Alberta Clipper” pipeline from Canada’s Alberta oil sands to Superior, due for completion in mid-2010.

On Sept. 2 Enbridge (U.S.) Inc., the partner of Canada-based Enbridge, celebrated in Carlton County, where the company had stacks of pipes ready for construction.

Funder-driven outcomes

The structures and methods of ForestEthics

from "Offsetting Resistance: The effects of foundation funding from the Great Bear Rainforest to the Athabasca River", a special report by Dru Oja Jay and Macdonald Stainsby. Released September, 2009.

ForestEthics is registered as a non-profit and is similar in appearance to most ENGOs. However, both in origin and structure, many who have worked with ForestEthics suggest that there is something qualitatively different about the group.