Riley Brandt

A visitor to Syncrude’s interpretive roadside attraction near Fort McMurray is dwarfed by decommissioned oilsands equipment

It’s difficult to appreciate the scale and impact of Alberta’s oilsands and the aggressive bustle of Fort McMurray, the human anthill at its centre, without visiting this industrialized zone in northeastern Alberta.

When Fast Forward Weekly and Edmonton’s See Magazine sent a team to the area in August 2008, Fort Mac residents were rumoured to be unreceptive to journalists due to recent unflattering media coverage. Day One got off to a rough start. Photographing a tailings lake along Highway 63, Syncrude security guards politely told us that next time the RCMP would be notified and charges would be laid. While news intern Trevor Howell photographed downtown Fort Mac, a wild-eyed drug user hurling concrete chunks demanded Howell’s film. The next day, in marked contrast, Fort Mac generously opened up to us.

News intern Adrian Morrow discovered a strong laissez-faire attitude ironically paired with recognition of the region’s complex growth-related problems and the ambition to make Fort Mac the “Dubai of the north.”

“This was the story of Fort Mac,” says Morrow. “Everyone from the mayor down to the roughnecks we drank beer with in the woods realize how big the oilsands are and what an opportunity it is, but no one seems to know where it’s all going or what they’re going to do.”

Our goal was to understand the problems and possibilities shaping the destiny of the oilsands. We interviewed civic officials, rig workers, local journalists, shop owners, bartenders and retirees. Their openness gave our mission momentum.

“The people were pretty amazing,” says See news and city life editor Angela Brunschot. “Very welcoming and very willing to talk about their lives and their town. They’re also grounded and looking to have a good time.”

On May 21, the Canadian Community Newspaper Association Better Newspapers Competition honoured Fast Forward contributors Brunschot, Morrow, Howell, photographer Riley Brandt and I (former Fast Forward editor-in-chief) with a best series award for “The Future of the Oilsands.” This is the second consecutive year Fast Forward has received the award. Both Fast Forward and See were also awarded blue ribbons in the competition’s best newspaper category.

To read the stories, go to http://www.ffwdweekly.com/article/news-views/news/future-oilsands