Reactions to the federal government's attempts to stop NAFTA's environmental oversight commission from investigating environmental damage caused by tailings ponds in Alberta's oil sands came fast and fierce from critics.
“There’s compelling evidence that [industry contamination] is happening," said Dale Marshall of Environmental Defence, "and that the federal government is denying it, and not allowing that information to be known to Canadians and the people who live in that area."
The Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) is unsatisfied with the recent decision to dismiss their judicial review of the Federal approval of Shell Canada’s Jackpine Mine Expansion project, according to a press release. The ACFN argued the project approval process failed to uphold proper and adequate consultation and as result has harmed the nation and its rights.
Quebec's energy regulator is giving the thumbs-up to TransCanada Corp.'s Energy East pipeline, calling the plan "desirable."
The $12-billion pipeline between Alberta and New Brunswick aims to connect western crude with eastern refineries and new markets across the Atlantic.
It would make use of under-used natural gas pipe already in the ground for about two thirds of the way, with new pipe being constructed in Quebec and New Brunswick.
As U.S. President Barack Obama and a Republican-led Congress spar over the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, a new analysis of worldwide fossil-fuel reserves suggests that most of the Alberta oil the pipeline is meant to carry would need to remain in the ground if nations are to meet the goal of limiting global warming to two degrees Celsius.
UNIVERSITY WAKE-UP CALL: PETITION DEMANDS CLOSURE OF MINING INSTITUTE
VANCOUVER, BC – Over 1000 individuals and civil society organizations are signatories to a letter petitioning coalition universities to dissolve the mining, oil, and gas think-tank headquartered at UBC.
Recently, the first Canadian university joined a growing global movement to divest endowments from fossil fuels. Concordia’s $5-million was largely symbolic; it still has $95-million invested in oil and gas companies. But its decision was another signal that the divestment movement is gaining momentum.
In fact, divestment is creating a significant new challenge for an oil industry that is already fighting hard to maintain its pre-eminence in the world of energy.
On July 20, 2013, Bella Laboucan-McLean fell 31 stories off the balcony of a condo tower in downtown Toronto. She had been at a small gathering inside one of the building's many glass boxes. There were five other people in the condo that night.
A resident of a lower-floor heard the sound of her body falling and alerted the police.
Bella was 25 years old, Cree from Northern Alberta.
(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, BC) Recent media reports regarding the renewed calls for a national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women quote Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt stating "if the guys grow up believing that women have no rights, that's how they are treated" and "It’s a question of people pulling together, addressing the issue, and taking action." More shockingly, Prime Minister Stephen Harper remarked “It isn't high on our radar, to be honest."
What do the plummeting oil prices tell us not only about our near term economic future in Canada, but the political fragility of the world's petro states?
If Canada fully joins the petro state club, as our prime minister and his party desire, is oil's volatility just the cost of doing business, or a threat to our nation's well-being?
The ideal person to ask is Terry Lynn Karl, one of North America's foremost experts on the politics of oil. The Tyee recently caught up with Karl, who teaches at Stanford University and lives in San Francisco.
