| If the oilsands were situated on the outskirts of Calgary we would likely have a much different attitude to the province’s largest and most destructive industrial project. We would be outraged by the air pollution, the deep scars in the earth, the amount of water needed to keep the monster going. We would be much more anxious about the greenhouse gases it spews and their contribution to global warming.
But the oilsands are in northern Alberta, far from view if you spend most of your time in Calgary. The people in Fort McMurray who live within sight of it all are no doubt too busy working or looking for a place to live to worry about the larger questions. However, the sheer size of these projects and their impact is of concern to all Albertans no matter how close to or far we are from the action.
To date the government propaganda has focused on the advantages of the oilsands — the millions of barrels of oil, the jobs, the corporate investment and billions of dollars in future royalties that will flow into government coffers. For the most part, the Alberta media have lapped up the government line and stuck to the good news story. Anyone who criticizes or questions is quickly sidelined as an incompetent whiner. Public consultations organized by the Klein government are currently underway in various parts of the province. But they seem a tad late, and besides, this government is extremely proficient at spinning public consultations so it sounds as though everyone agrees with what they had planned in the first place.
The truth is Albertans have never been asked if they are willing to drain their rivers, destroy valuable boreal forest, pollute the air and increase global warming in order to supply the U.S. with millions of barrels of oil. Have we ever been asked how much development we would like to see and at what pace? Shouldn’t these questions have been front and centre in the Legislature? Shouldn’t our elected representatives have been hashing this out in public view for the past few years?
And why is it that even though nine people have declared an interest in replacing Ralph Klein as leader of the Alberta PCs, none of them appear to believe the impact of oilsands development is the number one issue in Alberta right now. Granted, it is still the early days in the leadership campaign, but one of these people will eventually be premier, if only for a short time.
However, oilsands development and its environmental impact are not exactly at the top of the agenda for the leadership candidates. It’s as though they are simply too intimidated by the power of the corporations who have invested billions of dollars, and the breakneck pace of the developments which has become akin to a runaway horse.
Jim Dinning, the alleged front-runner, until recently a vice-president of TransAlta, likes industrial development of any kind and is not about to disrupt it no matter the consequences. "I want to send a message to industry that we are not going to disturb or upset investor confidence. It’s such a fragile thing that I am not prepared to do that," he told a reporter for Canadian Press. Fragile? With the price of oil at $70 a barrel? It’s the environment that’s fragile, not investor confidence.
Lyle Oberg, who like Dinning served in Premier Klein’s cabinet, doesn’t want to interfere either. Maybe because he hails from Brooks in southern Alberta which is about as far away from the oilsands as you can get and still be in the province. Oberg says it is "extremely dangerous when government attempts to artificially get into the marketplace and cause things to stop or slow down." Dangerous? Isn’t it more dangerous to drain your rivers and cut down all your forests? We need them to live well, so our children and their children will live well.
Oberg also said the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board is "tremendously overworked," and he plans to unveil details later in the campaign to bolster the provincial regulator so it can make the tough decisions that will be required in the future. Don’t we elect and pay our elected representatives, our premier, our cabinet ministers to make the tough decisions? The regulatory bodies simply do what the legislators want them to do.
Mark Norris, another former minister in the Klein cabinet and one of three Edmonton-area candidates, says he would establish a ministry of energy and oilsands development, to deal with massive future development in northern Alberta. That sounds promising but then in the same breath Norris says he would not cap oilsands growth. You can’t have it both ways.
Ted Morton, the right wing dark horse, is said to be whipping up strong support among rural voters and churchgoers. If his website is any indication he hasn’t thought much about the oilsands. The phrase doesn’t even appear in "Ted’s Plan." In fact, the word oil doesn’t even appear in Ted’s plan for Albertans.
The Liberal’s policy pamphlet on the environment isn’t very encouraging either. It slides by oilsands development without taking a strong stand. So far, only former Premier Peter Lougheed seems to feel he has enough smarts and moral authority to tackle the issue head on. He recently called for a moratorium. Too bad so few Albertans heeded his message. Too bad more Calgarians can’t be transported to the Fort McMurray region to get a first-hand look at the real costs of the oilsands extravaganza.
Gillian Steward is publisher of Alberta Views Magazine. |
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