Dear Editor:
Recently I discovered how naive I’ve been regarding the tar sands. We’ve seen the ads on television, billboards and heard Premier Ed Stelmach and Prime Minister Steven Harper promoting oil from the tar sands project. We’ve seen how the land is being reclaimed and only the necessary amount of water is been used, how animals are been returned to the area — a nice rosy picture. Why would the rest of the world be so inclined to call Alberta’s oil “dirty”?
Well, as David Suzuki with The Nature of Things has pointed out, the picture is not so rosy. Now I know how important oil is to this country, province and the world. I’ve grown up with big oil in my backyard and have discovered over my lifetime that oil companies get pretty much what they want, our government has allowed this to happen.
The tar sands project is a much bigger operation than having a rig in your backyard. This is a huge operation that has taken away a large portion of Chipewyan land, polluted the air, land, water and wildlife to the extent that people are developing and dying of rare cancers at a much higher rate than anywhere else in Canada. Lupus rates are increasing, rashes and numerous other problems are occurring. Since the people of Fort Chip rely on the land for much of their food, their bodies are been riddled with toxins. The animals they eat, water they drink and air they breath are chock-full of toxins.
You would think that this data would mobilize our government into action to clean things up, however according to Health Canada there is no cause for concern — the testing they’ve done indicates that levels are within limits (a pretty vague report). Our government continues to assure Canadians and the rest of the world that the tar sands is safe. I wonder how many CEOs of these oil companies and politicians would like to move to Fort Chipewyan?
People of Fort Chipewyan are dying. They need to be moved to a safe site where they can still hunt, fish and live off the land without all the toxins. Since the government gave their land away, the government needs to give them new land and make the oil companies pay to rebuild Fort Chipewyan. When the highest deposit of gold in Canada was found under a town in Quebec the mining company paid to move one half of the town to ensure everyone got what they wanted. Why can’t the oil companies rebuild Fort Chipewyan? Do we really want our legacy to be “if we only stopped this sooner.”
When the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico occurred BP has been held accountable for the clean up. The same should be happening here in Canada. It cost billions to solve how to get the oil from the sand, how about spending billions to figure out how to prevent these toxins from entering our air, water and land? If there’s no immediate solution perhaps a stop work order should be levied until there is a solution.
Instead of following the path of so many before, instead of trying to cover up the facts wouldn’t it be wonderful if our political leaders admitted they had made a huge mistake. Take the high road and actually become proactive and show the rest of the world that instead of being one of the biggest contributors of pollution, we become the first nation to reduce acceptable emissions, be the hero, show the world we really do care.
With any luck at all our politicians can learn from previous leaders that sooner or later they have to be accountable, the elephant in the room will be seen the coverups uncovered. Avoid the billions of dollars in lawsuits, years of finger-pointing, generations of ill will. Don’t let this be the legacy of our children and grandchildren.
Canada is such a wonderful country let’s keep it that way. I may just be one small voice, expressing concern for this beautiful country, perhaps enough small voices together can be heard as one large unanimous voice, “We want tar sands cleaned up” and maybe, just maybe, we’ll be heard.
If you are ashamed as I to be a Canadian, and especially an Albertan right now, please let your politicians know. The tar sands as it stands right now is not acceptable.
Lois Stutter